11:11
by underhandlilies
Summary: Sometimes, one harmless wish can trigger a domino effect — and turn out to be not so harmless after all. Eleven wishes, eleven days, and a lot of damage for the wisher...Cloud really wishes he'd never wished at all.  eventual Zack/Cloud. Cracky mayhem.
1. Day 1

_**Dedicated to anyone who has ever wished to take back a wish. **_

**._._._.**

**11:11**

**A Double Digit Final Fantasy VII Fan-Fiction**

**._._._.**

**DAY ONE**

**._._._.**

**A PROLOUGE (OF SORTS)**

Zack seemed to be the sole reason behind all of Cloud's problems. He breathed his air, was taller than him, and was the person that Cloud felt obligated to blurt all his problems to, even though he was relentlessly teased afterwards for them.

Zack Fair knew all there was to know about Cloud Strife, as Cloud Strife knew all there was to know about Zack Fair.

Well, almost everything.

Cloud couldn't smother an embarrassed blush as Zack's fingers tangled with his, practically skipping to keep up with his long strides, but as usual, Zack didn't notice. He was too busy grinning, tugging at Cloud's hand to make him walk even faster to get to…wherever they were going. Somewhere Zack wanted to take him.

It was pretty late, now, and the park was deserted. Any romantic couples who would've usually been on the benches had probably opted to be at home snuggling on the couch, instead of outside freezing their romantic butts off. Cloud briefly, wistfully wished that Zack had opted for the same decision—he _liked _couches—but Zack never went for something as easy as that.

And, then again, they weren't even a couple to begin with.

Cloud puffed out his cheeks in protest to the thought, but only earned tripping over his feet when he didn't pay attention to where he was going.

"Here we are!" Zack exclaimed happily. Cloud looked up. There was nothing but another long, winding path, and a couple of trees. He huffed _un_happily.

"_Where_ are we?" he asked, doing a full-circle turn. It looked the same in every direction.

Zack's forehead creased. "The park, dummy." He put his hands on Cloud's shoulders, not too gently turning him in the direction he wanted him to, and tilting Cloud's head to the side.

Cloud blinked. Where he'd thought there wasn't anything before, there was a cylindrical stone column—worn and missing a few stones. A little roof stood on little stands on the edges.

"A well?"

"Not just a _well," _Zack corrected, "A _wishing _well."

"Yeah," Cloud said. "Take me home."

He could feel more than see Zack roll his eyes, and a playful shove at his shoulder brought him forward to the edge of the well. Instinctively, he reached out, clutching at the sides of the well as he stared down into it. It hadn't _looked _that deep, but…well…he couldn't see _anything _when he looked in there, except an endless black hole.

Cloud swallowed hard and backed up a little. Something about the well made him feel uneasy.

"Well…it's really late; I mean, it's already, what, ten fifty or something—?"

"Aw, c'mon, Cloud…"

Cloud sighed, zipping up his jacket and doing a little hop-skip. Apparently, the sooner he complied, the sooner they reached warmth. "Okay, Zack, what do I do?"

Zack, seemingly unbothered by the cold, shrugged his shoulders with a grin. "Make a wish, of course," he said. 'Duh' was unspoken, but obviously meant to be represented in the sentence. "I thought it might be something you'd like," he added on as an afterthought, and smiled sweetly.

There was no need to say anything else; that smile completely numbed Cloud's brain. A mumbling Cloud was already digging through his coat pockets, then his jeans, looking for spare change. Traditionally, he remembered that for wishing wells, you were supposed to use pennies. Instead, though, all he found in his pocket was a nickel. His fingers traced the smooth edges, wondering if it counted. Zack's hand found his, prying apart his fingers.

"That'll work," Zack said approvingly. "Now all you have to do is make a wish!"

Cloud looked around something to prompt him, any sort of inspiration, before looking up at Zack.

"Any wish is fine," Zack scoffed, ruffling his hair. "Just think of something you'd really, really like."

What Cloud really, really would like was to watch a movie with Zack on the couch, maybe in a 'very friendly' way instead of in the 'just friends' way. But that was unreasonable. It was probably best to just wish for something vague.

"Do I say it out loud?" Cloud asked, standing on tip-toes with the coin outstretched in one hand.

Zack shrugged. "Only if you want to."

Cloud leaned forward, peering over into the darkness, swallowing down the queasiness. He couldn't help but feel something…strange every time he looked into the well, though he couldn't quite put his finger on what. The nickel seemed strangely stuck to his hand.

"Well, then…" Cloud gnawed his lower lip in thought. "I guess…I wish…that all my wishes would come true."

Before he could stop himself, he turned his curled palm upside down. The coin fell straight downwards—not bouncing against any of the walls, or anything, like it would in any other situation—but straight downwards, as if it'd been pulled straight down by a vacuum tube. The glimmer of silver was quickly swallowed up by the black, and within only a second, it was as if Cloud hadn't even held it at all, except for a nickel-sized sweaty spot in the middle of his palm.

Cloud swallowed hard. For some reason, he suddenly had the anxious feeling that he'd done something extremely wrong, and wished that he hadn't dropped the nickel in there. He didn't even hear the reassuring _plop _of it reaching bottom—it was like it had been sucked into a void, or maybe gobbled up by some open, waiting mouth at the very end. All of these imaginings were quickly dissolved when Zack threw an arm over his shoulders.

"Man, what kind of a wish was that? That was _dumb."_

Trying to shrug off the apprehension, Cloud stuck out his tongue, shifting under the arm. "Aren't…you going to make a wish?" he asked, chancing a look up at Zack.

Zack shrugged. "I already did, when I first found it." He craned his head so he could look down at Cloud with a smile. "I didn't really need to, though, when I have everything I need already."

Cloud could feel a little stab of hurt in his chest at that. He smothered it with a cough, looking away. "Wanna get out of the cold, now?"

Zack nodded, and quickly steered away from the well, walking in the opposite direction. He looked down at Cloud, and frowned. "Hey…weren't you wearing a watch?"

Cloud started, his other hand flying down to his wrist. Sure enough, the sports watch was gone. He groaned. "It probably fell in when I was leaning over the well!"

"Serves you right for having such skinny little wrists," Zack decided, and picked up the pace. "Don't worry about it, you can get another one."

A little worry was already niggling at the back of his mind, but as they left the well behind, Cloud gradually let it fade away from thought. After all, it was just a nickel in an old, crumbling well—an old, inconsequential well that would probably be replaced or completely leveled by the following year.

What was there to worry about?

._._._.

The watch was still falling through the black, though the red neon numbers were still clear enough.

11:10.

11:11.

_Plop._

The nickel finally hit bottom, moments before the watch joined it.

The water, overgrown with algae and slime, glowed green.

._._._.

**CLOUD'S FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY. STRIFE FAMILY LIVING ROOM. 1:00 PM.**

_ He understood, at least, that it was a celebration regarding him. Cloud didn't mind this, of course. Any and all attention was welcome, especially the picking up kind. It seemed that, the more he moved around and the more he pulled down, the more anxious they got, and the more he got picked up and transported to a new area. Especially when he gnawed at the balloons; the sound they made had shocked him to tears the first time, but now they were just a new diversion. Plus, it made him get whisked away even faster._

_ It was like teleportation. Cloud giggled as once again he was hefted up, hopefully to go to another location. _

_ Unfortunately, he wasn't carried very far, and was instead plopped in a chair in front of the dining room table. Voicing his disapproval, he tried to slide down and escape under the table, but someone's big hands reached around his middle, keeping him in an uncomfortable position. Cloud loudly declared his displeasure at this, but no one seemed to understand, or pay attention to his squirming._

_ "Cloud," someone said, and he finally looked up to see his mother, smiling down at him. He stared right back, watching as she put cake in front of him. There was a tube with a flickering flame at the end, which Cloud stared at in amazement, before looking back up at his mother for prompting of what to DO with this new development._

_ "Blah blah blah blah Cloud!" she said. "Blah blah blah Cloud, blah blah blah!"_

_ Hm. That wasn't very enlightening. Cloud drowned out the adults' lowered garbles and focused on the bright flame. _

_ "Blah blah blah!" his mother cooed at him, and puffed at the flame._

_ Quickly taking her lead, Cloud blew a raspberry of mostly spit at the candle. The flame sputtered out. Immediately, a round of applause and gibberish rose from the adults around him. Cloud blinked around in stupefied wonder. It was only a _fire_; it was supposed to go out. He wondered what would've happened if HE hadn't been there to blow it out, and then was quickly comforted at the thought that his mother would have saved them all. _

_ The adults began to babble amongst themselves. Someone gave him a piece of cake_—_probably the one with baby drool on it_—_and Cloud, giving up on trying to understand, amused himself with smearing icing all over his mother's best tablecloth. _

_ Idly, he made a wish. If the adults spoke his language, then he would finally be able to tell what they were saying. Maybe they'd actually make more sense that way._

_ He wished that the adults spoke baby._

_ Then he accidentally stuck a chubby finger in his mouth, tasted the icing, and occupied himself by stuffing as much cake as he could into his mouth to the cooing gibberish of the adults around him, already forgetting his previous thoughts._

._._._.

Cloud blearily opened one eye, peering out from beneath his pillow. Neon analog letters winked back at him from his clock, cheerily informing him that, once again, the alarm had failed to wake him up.

Cloud rolled back over, smushing the pillow over his head with a sigh. Good thing it was a Saturday.

Outings with Zack always left him drained. If he drank, he mused, this would probably be what a hangover felt like. Zack Withdrawal. Guaranteed to leave you bedridden and exhausted the next day.

Making a face, Cloud stiffly got up from bed, shoving Fredrick out of the way as he did. The teddy fell flat on his nose. Served him right, sneaking out of the "Give Away" Box in the closet—_again_-—and snuggling up to Cloud in the night. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Cloud still felt unbelievably lonely sleeping without something fuzzy next to him. Perish the mere thought.

Despite that, he picked Fredrick up and carried him along. He would return him to the "Give Away" box again later…right now, he needed the company.

Downstairs he went, one step at a time, skipping the bathroom and going straight through the living room, where he slouched on the couch. No one was here to worry about morning breath for now. Feeling a little perkier, he began bouncing up and down, trying to decide on breakfast. Cornflakes sounded good. That left little else to do, though, and once the decision had been made, Cloud felt the impending gloom of boredom.

What to do, what to do? Cloud tapped absently on his lip, jarring Fredrick up and down on his knee. Zack was working today, which was probably why he had been dragging Cloud out and about on his wishing well gig yesterday. Cloud didn't have school or work until Monday. Everyone else he knew was doing…something else, probably more important. And the house was spotless.

Cloud blew out his cheeks. Time to call Mom.

He looked at the handset, which seemed so very far away from the very squishy couch.

…Or, maybe not.

He wiggled his fingers at the handset, willing it to either come to him, or for him to suddenly go flying over to it.

The phone remained where it was.

With nothing else to do, Cloud repositioned himself so that he was facing the TV, and turned it to the first channel he thought of—preschool cartoons. Then he snuggled Fredrick closer—one last time before he gave him away (which he had been saying for the past five years). It never failed, usually, to relax him and make him feel ready to face the day; but today, for some reason, he still felt uncomfortable.

The wishing well was bothering him. Cloud wasn't one for wishes, usually—he'd stopped making them after his eleventh birthday, so far as he knew. But a wish was just a wish. He hadn't even dropped a penny in there. Heck, he hadn't even heard the nickel hit bottom. For all he knew, it was still falling, straight down, turning over and over…

For some reason, that thought disturbed him even more than the wish.

A shriek cut through the _Little Bear_ theme song, and Cloud jumped a moment before realizing it was the phone. Giggling nervously at his stupidity, Cloud got up and hopped over to the phone, picking it up. Maybe his mom had decided to call first.

"Good morning!" Cloud said cheerily, trapping the phone between his ear and his shoulder so he could watch the cartoon at the same time.

"Gooooo blah blah blagh!"

Startled, Cloud nearly dropped the phone. He pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it, then brought it back.

"Um…pardon me?" he said politely.

"_Gurgle _bloop gheeeeeee _num num num_! _Cooooooo _blagh!Ptah ptah ptah!"

Cloud frowned. The voice was actually rather familiar. For a couple of days in a row, some sort of telephone salesman had been calling and trying to sell him insurance or something—some middle aged heavy smoker, to be exact, who talked so fast Cloud often politely excused himself for fear of being tricked. This voice, babbling gibberish, sounded sort of like that same dude. A middle-aged heavy smoker gurgling like a baby. This was way, way too weird this early in the morning. But this dude was holding a whole one-sided conversation in gurgles.

"Zack?" Cloud asked hopefully, "Is that you?" Hopefully, this was all just a prank call or something.

"Aughhhhhhhhhh—!"

A very intricate prank call, minus the giggles and snorts and the "Hey, just playing with you" at the end. Plus, did Zack even know what Heavy Smoker Salesman sounded like? Cloud was pretty sure he'd never been over when the guy called.

He held the phone away from his ear once again, now feeling a little alarmed as on the other end the guy chortled disturbingly. What if…well, what if he _wasn't _trying to talk in baby talk? What if…he was being _strangled _or something?

Cloud swallowed hard, putting a hand on his own throat. Poor Heavy Smoker Salesman probably only had _his _number on hand to call for help!

"Oh my God," Cloud breathed in horror, and then scrabbled to uncover the phone. He called into it, "Hello. Hello! A-are you okay? Do you want me to call the police?"

Silence on the other line. Cloud waited anxiously, now gnawing his finger when he split his lip.

The man on the other line burst out in a series of high-pitched, panicked sounds. Cloud winced at the static, thoroughly confused, but he could manage to make out the word "no" repeated several times.

_No need for police, or no to whoever's hurting him?_ Cloud wondered worriedly. "Do…you…need…the police?" he enunciated, hoping the man would make things clearer.

If possible, the babblings grew even higher and more panicked. Cloud could barely make out the words "no pice!" before there was the abrupt clattering of a phone. The other guy had hung up.

Cloud pulled the phone away, looking at it and trying to make sense of what had just happened. Was the guy alright, or not? Sure, he was annoying—he often called when Cloud was going into the shower, in the shower, or just out. Once, Cloud had fallen down the stairs, soaking wet with a towel around his waist, just trying to answer the phone. (That time, that guy was trying to sell him hairdryers. Cloud had politely declined, sounding as authorative as he could in a towel.)

Still, though…maybe he had a family! Well, a family of greasy, plaid-suited, slick salesmen—but a family, nonetheless!

At the same time, "no pice" could mean "no police".

Cloud shook his head at his own stupidity. The guy had probably gotten his tongue stung by a bee or something, and that was why he was slurring his words. Or his tie was too tight!

He scowled at a sudden thought. OR, he had thought Cloud was gullible enough to say 'yes' why he couldn't understand what he was signing up for! The sheer nerve! Cloud was almost sure of it now. Heavy Smoker was so panicked at the mention of police because it would get _his _greasy behind in trouble!

In a fit of righteous rage, Cloud slammed the phone down into its cradle and nodded at it satisfactory, as if he'd just slammed it down on the guy's head. That would show him.

Quickly disregarding the situation, Cloud went back over to the couch and propped Fredrick up so he could properly see the TV and craned his neck to see what was on too. Happy upon discovering _Wonder Pets _was up next, he cranked the sound as he skipped to the kitchen. His mood didn't even decline upon discovering that he didn't have any cornflakes. Raisin Bran it was, then!

._._._.

Having an unlimited channel of preschool cartoons can make you lose track of time. By the time Cloud suddenly decided to check the clock, he came to the rude awakening that it was already six o'clock. Waking up at noon apparently didn't give you much time to live in.

The pharmacy was twenty-four hour, sure, but if Cloud didn't go and pick up his medication _now_, he would never leave. Plus, if he went out later, that wouldn't work either. It was dangerous out there. The thought was enough to propel Cloud off the couch, up the stairs, and into a decent pair of pants. Loathe to surrender his pajama shirt, Cloud just pulled his clothes on over them. It wasn't like anyone would notice, anyway.

The pharmacy was a brisk fifteen minute walk from Cloud's house. He waved at everyone he didn't know and hid from everyone he did know the entire way there. It made things more interesting.

Once in the store, Cloud refrained from browsing the candy section and made a beeline to the back, where he bounced as he waited for service.

An elderly lady emerged from the back. She had a very sweet face, and Cloud mused, as probably many before him had as well, that she reminded him of _his _gramma—missing the shock of gray-blonde hair and the fond scowl, of course, but still very close.

"Hi!" Cloud handed over the paper, hoping that it would take a minimum amount of talking to get what he needed. "I'm here to pick up my medication?"

The lady nodded, ducking down behind the counter. Cloud amused himself by making faces into the medicine bottles on the counter. He'd just discovered that his tongue could actually stick out _pretty _far when someone cleared their throat. With an embarrassed grin, he faced the pharmacist again.

She was holding two bottles, one in each hand, and looking at him expectantly. Her mouth opened, and Cloud waited for the oncoming question: which one was the one he needed?

Except it didn't come out that way.

"Blegh _blah_ blah ga goo?" the lady asked, smiling politely at the end.

Cloud stared. The lady made an impatient hand gesture, and he hurriedly opened his mouth. "U-Um…could you repeat that?"

"Blegh…_blah…_blah…ga…goo?" the lady asked again, drumming her fingers on the counter.

Nervously, Cloud brought his thumb up to his mouth, biting at it. He didn't want to hurt pharmacy lady's feelings—after all, they already didn't smile enough as it was—but he really couldn't understand what she was trying to say.

"Umm…" Cloud began, "I'm so sorry ma'am, but I can't understand what you're saying. Do you have a pad, or…or something?"

The lady's smile was kind of strained, but she reached underneath the desk, pulling out a piece of paper and a pen. She slammed them down, making Cloud jump, and scribbled something out while Cloud amused himself by hopping from foot to foot.

"_Blah_," she stated, sliding the pad back over to Cloud. Cloud smiled apologetically at her, picking up the pad and glancing at it.

Then squinting.

He glanced up, to where the before kindly elderly gramma now looked rather irritable, and then back down at the paper, his stomach sinking uncomfortably.

On the paper was nothing but scribbling.

It wasn't even the normal doctor or pharmacist crazy 'I can't read this' scrawl—it was like, 'I just gave the pen and to my baby brother' _all_ across the page. Cloud wondered for a moment if there was something wrong with his eyes or something, because it seemed to waver; but no, it was definitely there.

Cloud looked up with a cringe.

"I'm so sorry, ma'am…but I can't read your handwriting."

And then the sweet elderly lady just started _screaming_. She just leaned over the counter, was suddenly up in Cloud's face, and was screeching at the top of her lungs. In response, Cloud shrieked, grabbing something up from the counter to shield himself as he scrambled backwards. The lady just kept screaming at him in complete gibberish, and Cloud kept shrieking, and all the punk kids who hung out after school to flirt with the girl behind the counter wandered curiously over to see what the commotion was about.

By the time said girl behind the counter finally rushed to the back, Cloud was very near tears and shaking in his shoes.

"Hey," the girl said, pulling the lady off the counter. She looked him up and down, and thankfully didn't find anything concerning, because her face softened. "What's wrong?"

"I didn't do anything," Cloud whispered. "I just can't understand _anything_ she's been saying and I couldn't understand what she wrote down and I need to go _home_…"

"It's _okay_," the girl soothed. She pried the bottles out of the venomously glaring pharmacist's hand. This time, Cloud shakily took the right one, and signed for it as quickly as he could. Meanwhile, the girl picked up the paper, frowning.

"Hey, kid," she said, looking up over it. "We have free eye checkups here every two weeks. Maybe you should apply."

Cloud flushed unhappily, mumbling something in reply before high-tailing it out of there. A couple of times he thought that the punk kids were curiously following him, but by the time he got home, he was all alone.

Miserable, too.

Now he just felt awful, and he hadn't even done anything. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't understand _two_ people today. It wasn't his fault that they both were speaking some strange language he couldn't understand.

He took a few deep breaths, settling down on the couch. Fredrick conveniently found his way into Cloud's lap, and Cloud hunched over him for a moment, struggling to calm down and not just cry.

Once he'd gotten himself sufficiently under control, he breathed out. He would write an apology note to the lady tomorrow. After that, he would find another pharmacy. After all, there were a lot of pharmacies in town; he would just find one without any grumpy grammas and head there.

Why the baby talk? Stuff like that didn't just _happen…_ as far as Cloud knew, anyway. It was like someone was trying to play this trick on him. If it was a trick, he decided, it sure was a horrible one. Suddenly paranoid, he swiveled his head around, looking for something—maybe the lens of a camera, or the cut off grin of some weird camera dude. The room looked like he'd left it, and he dropped his head back down again.

Maybe he should call someone.

Or maybe he just needed to go to bed. That seemed like the best thing to do right now, and it would probably calm himself down. With a hiccup, Cloud headed upstairs. Hopefully, tomorrow would be a lot better.

If only he knew.


	2. Day 2

**._._._.**

**11:11**

**A Double Digit Final Fantasy VII Fan-Fiction**

**._._._.**

**DAY TWO**

**CLOUD'S SECOND BIRTHDAY PARTY. STRIFE FAMILY BACKYARD AND LIVING ROOM. 12:00 PM.**

_It was a horrible occasion. A completely HORRIBLE occasion that something like this would happen._

_ Cloud had been skirting hands and legs for a long time now_—_a LONG time, and he was starting to get tired. It was getting hard to waddle around on such short stubby legs, much less run. So when he was finally caught, it was with a tired little whimper, and despite himself_—_he hated himself for doing this_—_he snuggled up against the shoulder, catching his breath._

_ Immediately, though, he was plopped down on the couch, and hands were tugging at his pajama bottoms. With a howl, Cloud began kicking frantically. Those stubby legs should be good for SOMETHING_—_but, unfortunately, they weren't. With an exasperated mumble on his parents' parts, someone was volunteered to hold him down, while the other pulled the pants down his squirming chubby legs._

_ "NO!" Cloud screeched. "NO NO NO!"_

_ "Shh, Cloud," his mother soothed, taking a moment to pat his downy head. For a moment, Cloud leaned into the touch. _

_ Until his father sneakily began to tug at the hem of his shirt, that was._

_ "NOOOOOOOOOO_—_" Cloud shrieked, breaking away just as his shirt did. After a mad chase around the house in only his diaper, he was finally scooped up and into party clothes. He didn't look like the picture of a happy kid who was finally a toddler, though; instead, his big eyes were red-rimmed and swollen, and he sulked and hiccupped miserably all through the greetings of the first guests._

_ He hadn't wanted to put on the stupid shirt. It was scratchy, and he'd probably be scolded if he rolled in the mud or something with it on. He liked his pajamas a lot better_—_they were cottony soft, baby chocobo blue and made him feel good. Plus, his parents did something magical with them that made them come back completely clean when they were dirty. It was OBVIOUS to him that pajamas were the best thing ever._

_ Right then and there in his chair, Cloud Strife, brand-new toddler, wished that he would never have to take off his pajamas._

_ Of course, after his little playmates came and he got a slice of cake, Cloud happily forgot all about his deadly serious oath and actually had a good time. By the time he was sleepily clad in his pajamas once again and snuggled up in his crib, gnawing his pillow, the wish had completely slipped his mind._

._._._.

Cloud's mouth felt completely cottony. It might have had something to do with the fact that he had it full of his pillow.

In disgust, he spent a few minutes dislodging himself from his rather wet sheets. Fredrick had gotten the worst of the drool because—sneaky devil—he'd maneuvered himself into Cloud's arms sometime during the night. Cloud had to draw a line on his bed or something—one fourth for Fredrick, three fourths for Cloud. It really wasn't polite to invade personal space like that.

Sunday was as easygoing as Saturday—nothing really to do or accomplish—but today, for some reason, Cloud felt like getting dressed and ready to face the day. Plus, he wanted to stop by and drop a note for the pharmacist lady, and he wanted to do it while neither she nor the helpful girl was there (that would be just _embarrassing_), which meant seizing the day while he could. Spreading out his sheets over the dresser to dry, Cloud pulled out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, already ironed, and, humming happily, closed the blinds.

Cloud had a thing for blue things. Zack always teased that he liked to match his eyes, but that wasn't necessarily true. There was a baby picture in his parents' old picture album, where he'd been in bed beaming, wearing blue pajamas. He remembered those blue pajamas, and how they'd felt. He'd experienced some of the best moments of his life in them. His two year old life, anyway. After that, he'd collected a bunch of pajamas, but blue was always his favorite until a mix-and-match day.

Cloud smiled fondly down at his current blue pajamas, then shook his head free of nostalgia and began thinking about the day.

He slipped his hands under the hem of his pajama bottoms and tugged downwards, wondering absently whether there was any Raisin Bran left. The second tug, and he wondered if maybe these pants were getting too small for him, and whether a trip to the store was in order.

The third tug, and Cloud's eyes snapped down in confusion. The pajama pants hadn't budged—not an inch downwards. Confounded, Cloud tugged again, and watched as the hem of his pants rippled, tightening around his waist.

After a particularly harsh tug, the pajama bottoms tightened in a death grip. Cloud squeaked, trying to pry it away, but the harder he tried, the tighter it grew, until he could actually _feel_ it cutting into his stomach.

"Okay!" Cloud wheezed in a panic, "I won't take it off!"

And, immediately, the pants loosened.

Cloud stared. Fear was bubbling up inside him, and, out of sudden impulse, he ran over to the windows, pulling the blinds up and facing the room.

There was nothing there.

Well, no duh. The evil was on Cloud's skinny trembling legs.

Cloud closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Okay. Okay. If the pants weren't going to come off, he could just try the shirt, right? Then he could try the pants. He would just try the shirt first.

Slowly, he curled his hands around the hem of his shirt, and then cringed, waiting.

Nothing.

Cloud let out a shaky laugh. What was he worrying about? He had probably just been pulling the drawstring on his pants in his stupidity. Stupid stupid-head! With another, more confident giggle at himself, Cloud lifted his arms, ready to shimmy out of the shirt.

That was precisely when the collar abruptly tightened around his neck, so fast that Cloud didn't know what happened at first. When he did, he gave a panicked shriek, both hands flying up to his throat. He tried to pull it completely off, but the more he tried, the more the collar tightened determinedly around his neck, until he couldn't breathe. Choking, he dropped the hem completely, sinking to his knees. His eyesight was starting to get fuzzy.

As soon as his hemline reached his thighs again, the collar released. Cloud gave a great gasp, wheezing as he tried to get in all the air he could.

He lay there a moment, hands still encircled around his neck, eyes wide. The pajama shirt lay loosely around him, once again innocent.

Innocent, but it had just tried to choke him.

_Choke_ him.

His _pajama shirt_ just tried to _choke_ him.

A new wave of panic washed over Cloud. He pulled the hem of his shirt harshly upwards again, and this time, the collar didn't tighten until it was over his eyes. Cloud wailed as he saw stars. He would be _blind_ his entire _life_, he _knew_ it, and he dropped his hem to reach up and try to pry them away—

—and the collar immediately loosened again.

Cloud blinked rapidly, trying to get rid of the horrid pressure on his eyeballs. The shirt hung loosely around him. There was silence.

What, exactly, was going on?

Trembling, Cloud made his way to the bathroom. Tugging at his pants, he discovered that they slipped down to his knees upon the appearance of the toilet. Perching tentatively on the toilet seat, Cloud sat there and tried to catch his breath.

Cloud hadn't watched many horror movies, but he was pretty sure that any sort of inanimate object could become possessed. Heck, in one that Zack had made him sit through in middle school, this lady's _purse strap _had strangled her to death. Zack had thought it completely hilarious, and re-winded it back several times for emphasis. For that reason, Cloud now had the very vivid image in his mind, only replacing the blonde starlet's head with his own blond spikes, and the purse strap with his pajama collar.

It was not a very inspiring or comforting picture.

Cloud inched towards the bathtub, pants still around his ankles. If the survivors in horror movies made it in the end by being clever, so could he. If the pants came off upon the appearance of the toilet…wouldn't the shirt come off upon the appearance of the shower?

It was at least worth a try.

Hesitantly, Cloud shook his ankles free of the bottoms, leaving them in a little pile on the floor, and then squinting distrustfully at them, daring them to do something.

They stayed put.

With a gulp, Cloud carefully stepped into the bathtub, and jerked the shirt off. The collar didn't tighten this time. It was quickly tossed out on top of the pants.

Wide-eyed, Cloud stood there shivering. Okay, so he'd gotten out of the pajamas. Now what?

Obviously, he had to find an extortionist. Preferably a little nice old priest. Or Aeris. Well, she was his only friend who hung out at churches, so she'd definitely know what to do. First, though, he had to put on some proper clothes. He doubted either the little nice old priest or Aeris would like to see him in only his boxers.

The bathroom door was still open. After taking a deep breath to prepare himself, Cloud closed his eyes, counted to three, and stepped out of the tub with the full intent of sneaking past his pajamas.

He hadn't counted on, halfway to the door, the pajamas rising up in menace, though. _Rising_. And _standing_. Like a _person_.

Cloud wanted to shriek, but it got stuck somewhere in his chest with his rapidly racing heart. Instead, he just stared, wide-eyed. His mom had always said that if he didn't wash his clothes they'd be able to "walk by themselves", but this was ridiculous.

Besides, his pajamas were _clean_.

He inched backwards, back towards the tub.

Surprisingly, the pajamas immediately collapsed to the floor. So the tub was his immunity? Cloud gulped. There was no tub in his bedroom.

But there was a lock. That was it was totally worth it.

Taking a deep breath, Cloud darted for the door. His feet were slipping on the cold tiles, his breath was coming in short, terrified gasps, and…and…

SOMETHING WAS GRABBING HIS BOXERS.

_"Get away!" _Cloud shrieked hysterically, still stumbling forward even as the pajamas tried to reel him in. They were pretty strong for ninety-percent linen.

One of the sleeves had managed to hook his waistband, while one pants leg had a firm grip on the bottoms. The other was trying to trip him. Cloud choked on a sob. "_I never did anything to you!" _

In desperation, as the tugs became more insistent, Cloud completely kicked off his boxers and _streaked _down the hall, buck-naked and wailing like a banshee. Behind him, the systematic attack had become something out of a B horror movie. The pants were trying to catch up to him, but having no skeletal system was a hindrance, causing them to flop helplessly around. The shirt was dragging itself rather quickly down the hall by its sleeves.

Cloud reached his room, trying desperately to slam the door, but the pants were lodged somewhere in-between and GOOD FREAKING GAIA, THE SHIRT SLEEVE WAS REACHING THROUGH THE DOOR— Cloud was screaming incomprehensibly, even as his foot snagged a chair and jammed it up under the door. He was ready to slump against the door when, across the room, a drawer slowly slid out. Cloud watched in growing horror, realizing that it was his pajama drawer.

"No!" he wailed, making for the window. All he managed to do was get the blind up before the door barricade flew open. His formerly current pajama shirt resumed its slow drag across the floor. Pajamas of all colors—Cloud was an organized person—poured out of the drawer towards him. Cloud tugged at the latch on his window, which was horribly impossible with sweaty hands. He managed to meet the eyes of his elderly neighbor—who looked just as horrified as he did, though probably because of the fact that she usually saw him _clothed_—before he was jumped.

Cloud kicked and screamed as several sets of clothing rained down on him, pinning him to the floor, but only succeeded in tangling himself up more. He closed his eyes with a last, pitiful wail, resigning himself to—to be _gang-raped_ by his _pajama sets_ and—

Instead, though, something slid up his legs and snapped smartly around his waist. Something was pulled awkwardly over his head, effectively squishing his nose, and settled around his hips. Immediately, all further movement around Cloud's prone body ceased.

Somewhere outside, a bird sang happily.

Cloud opened one watery blue eye. Around him, like the destruction of a cannonball in a lake or a volcanic eruption, lay scattered debris; pajamas of every shape, color, and condition that he'd had in the room. A pink shirt sleeve that had previously been wrapped around his ankle was now lying limply next to it.

Cloud opened the other eye, looking down at himself.

Neatly pressed and ironed, like all his pajamas were, he was clad in a pair of soft blue pajamas.

._._._.

Cloud wasn't sure how he felt about going commando in evil pajama pants. There was something uneasy about _knowing _that his pants might be—he still wasn't sure, after all—sentient. Not having anything between _them _and—his parts of privacy _besides_ those intelligent beings—well, he didn't have to describe how that felt.

If he was correct, though, they were only sentient _when _he tried to remove them. Needless to say, he didn't touch them at all for the next hour and a half.

What he did do was connect to the Internet and go off on a wild goose chase, looking for ways to exorcise clothes. The search bar apparently didn't know what he was asking for. "_How to Get Your Pajamas Off"_ just brought up a few lewd looking sites, and "_how do I know if my pajamas are possessed" _brought up instructions on how to survive a pajama party. Being easily distracted, Cloud wasted quite a lot of time on this article before getting back to the point. The only other relevant thing, though, was a video. Clicking upon it made Cloud jump straight out of his skin as heavy metal music and obviously homemade horrific sounds gushed out of the speakers. A little too late, Cloud realized he had clicked on a homemade horror flick.

After the internet had been exhausted, Cloud found himself on the couch once again. Surprisingly, after the wild chase earlier, his terror had been exhausted as well. All he could do was wrap his arms around himself as best he could and pretend—_wish_, rather pathetically—that it was Zack holding him, not his own scrawny arms. He was regretting that Fredrick hadn't tricked him into being carried downstairs. Now, of all times, his invasion of privacy would've been welcomed. Cloud, however, was absolutely terrified of going back into his room to fetch his toy by himself.

Besides, he still had to fold up all those pajamas, and he was deadly embarrassed to go back in and risk seeing his neighbor again. He didn't know if he could EVER face her again after this.

As Cloud was debating what to do, the doorbell rang. He jumped about a foot in the air the first time, and then giggled nervously at himself. Grabbing a cushion and holding it in front of himself, he tried to compose something to say to his elderly neighbor for flashing her. It was undoubtedly her, after all, probably with a police notice or something.

Except it wasn't.

"Hey, Spikey!" Zack grinned, bouncing on his heels. "What's up?"

Cloud blinked up at him for a moment. Of all the people…

"It's Sunday, y'know, so I thought we could go out, maybe catch a movie or something." Zack scratched the back of his neck with a scowl. "I was working really late yesterday, sorry I didn't check up on you. Hey…" he reached out and poked at Cloud's cheek. "Are you all right? You look funny."

Cloud lurched forward, wrapping his arms around Zack's waist and burying his face in his chest.

"Hey!" Zack waved his hands around for a moment, before settling for holding them awkwardly above Cloud's shoulders. "What happened?"

Cloud clung to him, sniffling unhappily for a moment. He had a choice: he could blurt it all out to Zack and look like a _complete idiot _in front of him, or keep it secret. On one hand, if he told Zack, Zack would probably try and help him out of the pajamas, maybe find a way to defeat them once and for all.

On the other hand, in order to do _that, _Zack would probably see him…well…without his pajamas on.

What a day to not have boxers.

They were both guys, all right, but that didn't change the fact that Cloud had a, like, _thing _for Zack. Even with his face buried in Zack's shirt, Cloud turned rapidly red.

Okay, then. Taking a deep breath, Cloud withdrew from the safety of his friend's shirt, giving him a watery, wan smile.

"Sorry," he said, lifting his pajama shirt hem to wipe at his eyes. He felt the collar constrict a little in warning, and gulped a few times to get rid of the feeling as he dropped the hem. "I just…haven't been feeling well. Sick, yeah. I've been sick."

Zack made a falsely disgusted face. "And so you blew your infected snot all over my shirt? Low, man. Really, really low."

Cloud cracked a smile that didn't really reach his eyes, retreating back a little behind his door. "So, maybe another day?"

"You're not going to even invite me in? I was going to get a CD back from you—"

CDs in bedroom. Bedroom going through the pajama apocalypse. Cloud's best friend AND crush possibly being killed by Cloud's pajamas. No thank you.

"Uh, everything's been, uh, contaminated, with…my germs. It's contagious." Cloud was pretty much slamming the door, but it was being prevented by Zack's foot. Zack reached out a hand and shoved the door a little more open, his face serious now.

"Okay, Cloud, I bought the sick act, but this is just stupid. Is there someone in there you don't want me to see or something?"

"No!" Cloud said, inwardly panicking. "I-I…I just…I can't really explain."

Zack scrutinized him for a long minute—Cloud almost felt like backing down and confessing all-—before his face softened. "You're all right, though?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah."

Zack sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Okay, but just call me if you need help or anything. And I better not hear on the news that something's happened to you."

Even if it meant dying a quiet death in his own home. Cloud nodded. "Promise."

Zack reached out, ruffling Cloud's hair fondly. "Feel better, squirt. But I _am_ coming over tomorrow, all right?"

Cloud smiled at him, quietly shutting the door behind him when he left. After that, he slid down to the floor, back against the door, feeling miserable. He had a feeling that he'd probably hurt Zack's feelings—but, it wasn't worst than him being killed by pajamas, right?

Right?

After letting himself wallow in his misery a bit longer, Cloud trudged up the stairs. His bedroom was quiet and still, but he still took a moment to poke around in the corners before he began picking up his pajamas. After the pajamas were put away, he gathered up all the dirty clothes he could, putting in a quick load before trudging back upstairs and making his bed.

He stood a long moment in the doorway, scrutinizing the room. If he did die tonight, he wanted his room to be straight, for once.

What else?

After a few moments consideration, Cloud went over to his desk, pulling out a sheet of paper. Usually, only suicide victims left notes, but, whatever—Cloud wanted to warn someone so they would know what they were dealing with. He ended up writing two different letters; one straight to the point, telling some future brawn hero about the enemy and what to do, and a corny one to his family and friends. He laid both of them on his desk, went over and fished Fredrick out of the box in the closet, and flopped over on his bed, waiting for death.

And waiting.

And waiting.

Good thing he brought snacks. Waiting to be killed was rather tiring.

Eventually, when death by pajamas wasn't looming foremost on his mind, and it was dimming outside, Cloud was fighting off asleep, clutching Fredrick. It was a losing battle, though. After all, it was best to _not_ know when he was killed, wasn't it? Cloud tried his best to stay awake, though.

Outside, something yowled, and Cloud buried himself under his pillow.

It was going to be a long night.


	3. Day 3

**._._._.**

**11:11**

**A Double Digit Final Fantasy VII Fan-Fiction**

**._._._.**

**DAY THREE**

**CLOUD'S THIRD BIRTHDAY, BEFORE PARTY. CLOUD STRIFE'S BEDROOM. 2:00 PM. **

_ Fredrick was not a birthday gift, but a little "going away" present for Cloud, since he was probably-maybe-just-might-be moving to Junon. All Cloud understood from this was "going away", and threw an awful fit, refusing to even touch the bear._

_ But then he _didn't_ move._

_ Cautiously, bit by bit over the year, Cloud began accepting Fredrick as a stuffed animal for his veritable collection. _

_Pretty soon, Fredrick became the _only _stuffed animal Cloud would accept. _

_Fredrick became a very close friend to him, and did everything with Cloud; they read together, slept together, ate together, and bathed together._

_Fredrick did absolutely everything._

_ Except one thing. _

_ It was hot and humid, and Cloud was sitting in his room on his chocobo-print sheets, hair stuck in clumps to his chubby cheeks, staring determinedly down at Fredrick, willing him to blink._

_ He finally gave up the battle and blinked himself._

_ Fredrick didn't._

_ It was frustrating. Everyone else was alive, and talked back to him, and told him what to do. Just not his very very best friend in the whole world._

_ Not for the first time, Cloud Strife sat on his bed, stared Fredrick in the eyes, and WISHED that his teddy bear were alive._

_ Of course, later at his birthday party, when he met another kid a little older than him who he thought was the greatest thing since string cheese, this wish was quickly forgotten. _

_._._._._

Cloud was dipping in and out of sleep. The more tired he got, the more determined he was to stay awake, but it was definitely getting hard. It was already nearing afternoon. Since the pajamas hadn't attacked yet—because as sleepy as he was getting, Cloud was not about to give up the idea of sentient pajamas—he decided that he could risk a little shut-eye.

He'd wake up as soon as the pajamas attacked. He was positive.

So thinking, Cloud turned over a little, groping for Fredrick. He was sure that the bear was somewhere nearby here, but all he could feel was empty air. Rolling over completely onto his stomach now, Cloud lifted up the pillow.

No Fredrick.

A sudden thought struck Cloud, making him feel very cold: what if the pajamas had gotten Fredrick?

But as quickly as that thought arrived, it was quickly pushed away. Fredrick, he was sure, the pajamas would not want. After all, Fredrick wasn't alive, and couldn't be eaten or tortured maliciously. And besides, he hadn't even heard any rustling or anything. He must've either fallen off the bed or been kicked down.

Kicking off the covers, Cloud began patting down the entire bed, headboard to the bottom, in search of a lump. He sighed in relief as he finally found the bear, though he did take a moment to frown. How did Fredrick get down there?

Whatever. As long as he'd found him, Cloud wasn't about to question. Pulling the covers back up, he tucked Fredrick in next to him, smiling down at him.

"Goodnight, Fredrick," he said, and turned over onto his other side.

For a moment, there was a deep, blissful silence.

Until…

"Good night, Master Cloud." Fredrick responded from behind him.

There was a beat of silence, in which it took a good few moments for the horror to set in.

With a scream, Cloud threw his bear across the room, where it hit the closet door with a painful _thunk_. He stayed upright in bed, eyes round as saucers and breath coming in unhappy gasps.

From by the closet door came an audible, soft, "Ow."

Cloud shrieked, rolling off the bed and hitting the floor. Behind his new hiding place, he slowly peered up over the edge, eyes wide.

Over by his closet door, something was flailing four stubby limbs, much like a beetle stranded on its back. Eventually, it managed to tip over, where it used two of its limbs to move itself into an upright, standing position.

Cloud squeaked, quickly ducking back behind the bed. His pillow, on the floor next to him, was quickly snatched up and hugged to his chest. His possessed pajamas? He could accept that. He didn't _love _his pajamas.

But his teddy bear?

Cloud began to sniffle. The ghost, or demon, or whatever it was, was taking it a bit too far. Fredrick hadn't done anything to anyone. But then again, wasn't that what kidnappers did? Attack your loved ones?

Did ghosts and kidnappers have the same philosophy?

All the shuffling sounds from the corner had ceased, and Cloud realized that all he could hear was his own ragged breathing. Dim concern registered in his mind, and he clumsily began to crawl up the side of the bed. Maybe the thing had un-possessed Fredrick?

Cautiously, Cloud shuffled himself around, poking his head slowly over the edge of the bed.

He came face to face with Frederick.

"Master Cloud," Fredrick said, flailing a stubby limb. Up close, his black button eyes shone with strange intelligence. His scruffy fur seemed more life-like. And every inch of him was _moving_—his fur, his arms, his legs. It just made the image all the more horrifying.

Cloud shrieked again. This time, he raised his pillow above his head, whacking the bear back across the room. This time, though, there was no scrambling around on his back; the bear clambered back to its feet and began stamping over to him again.

Screaming obviously wasn't going to stop it, but Cloud was going to try as much as he possibly could to disprove that theory.

By screaming.

The walls of his house must have been soundproofed for no one to be calling the police by now.

"Please calm down, Master Cloud, there really is no reason—"

The bear had gotten even closer. Though Cloud had already decided that he was going to die and everything, it was kind of overkill for his teddy bear to be doing the killing.

Finally getting his act together, Cloud sprinted for the exit—the window was taboo to him now—and jiggled the knob.

His bedroom door was locked.

His bedroom _door _was _locked._

Cloud was trapped in his bedroom with —_his_—demonized teddy bear.

"C'mon, c'mon!" he whimpered, wringing the doorknob. Yesterday, it'd been all about him saving the world, locking himself in so the evil pajamas didn't get out. But today was a whole nother story, especially when it came to his _toy _being possessed—

Did that mean his entire house was out to get him now?

The lock still wasn't budging. Cloud swiveled his head frantically; maybe he could get out the window?

Fredrick was on top of the bed, now; apparently, he'd thought to climb up the tangled sheets, probably like a _huge_ _possessed spider_. (Cloud really didn't need that imagery.) The bear bounced once experimentally, before swiveling his head to face Cloud again.

"Master Cloud," Fredrick began, his bland voice taking on a patient tone. "There is no need to be frightened. I am here for you." So saying, he spread his arms in a demonic impression of an embrace, his face unchanging.

Cloud thought it was the most horrid thing he'd ever seen.

Fredrick tilted his head to the other side. "I," he repeated, "Am here for you." Then, he jumped straight into the air. On the downwards bounce, he tilted himself forward—

—shooting straight for Cloud.

Cloud couldn't even shriek.

His sudden peril even more apparent, Cloud finally managed to get the lock unstuck, flinging open the door. He closed it as much he could—the sheets still tangled around his ankles jammed up the rest—and leant his weight against it. A split second later, a heavy weight hit the door.

"Ow," came the muffled voice once again.

That didn't seem to be the end of the attack, however, as the sound of fabric began skritching against the door, apparently wanting out.

For a moment, Cloud pushed desperately at the sheets, trying to get them back inside so he could close the door; then Fredrick's fuzzy arm reached through, wiggling, and that was enough for Cloud to start running again.

Now, this was strategy time. Cloud ducked into a room doorway, catching his breath as he came up with an impromptu plan. It probably wouldn't stop his possessed bear, but; he could stab it through with something. That usually stopped most things on video games and horror movies, and Cloud was too out of it to contemplate if or if not it would work in real life.

He was _not_ too out of it, however, to figure that if he set his teddy bear on fire—which also stopped most things on video games and horror movies— that would probably mean that the whole house would go up in flames, and he hadn't finished paying his mom off for the loan yet.

Plus, if he set Fredrick on fire, there would be nothing salvageable. There was _still_ a chance his bear was _still_ inanimate in there.

Somewhere.

Cloud took a deep breath, peering down the hallway.

At the very end, two black button eyes gleamed. Fredrick was walking along, peering into rooms, and occasionally tripping and having to right himself. He had set up a ghostly wail, which resembled "Master Cloud?" as he went along. Shivering, Cloud shuffled out of the room and plastered himself against the wall, carefully taking the steps downstairs one at a time.

One step creaked.

Cloud froze.

Fredrick quieted. There were a few moments of silence, and then rapid stuffed steps headed for the stairs. Cloud gave up on being discreet and bolted down the stairs, attempting (and valiantly failing) to vault over the couch, and trying to roll out. He got stuck somewhere between the coffee table and the ottoman, but he managed to wrench himself free, before getting the brilliant idea of creating obstacles for Fredrick. He pulled the coffee table into a blockade and pushed the ottoman next to it, and knocked over the couch with a deadening crash.

Completely shaken now by his house's destruction, Cloud scampered into the kitchen doorway.

There was a heavy _thunk_ as Fredrick, who apparently didn't understand stairs, crashed down them, taking a side table with him. He stood, swiveling his head to take in his surroundings, before his eyes locked on the kitchen. Cloud backed away from the door, but Fredrick seemed certain that that was where he'd gone.

Maybe the obstacles had served more as _Cloud is right this way _signs than _keeping Fredrick away from Cloud _collisions.

Fredrick dropped down, using his arms to pull himself forward as his legs dragged behind him, crawling under the coffee table. He bounced off the ottoman, landed on the couch and ran along the spine, before finally hopping off and heading for the kitchen door.

Cloud's hand skidded over the countertop, finally grabbing something sharp and holding it close to his chest as he looked for a hiding place. Once he was safely tucked underneath the island's cupboard, Cloud closed his eyes and took a shaky breath.

Fredrick walked quietly, but Cloud could still hear his footsteps; he hadn't washed him in a while. The entire thing had a _Jurassic Park_ feel to it, and it made him uneasy; that movie had killed him when he was little.

Fredrick's steps continued getting closer, until they suddenly paused. Cloud thought at first that maybe Fredrick decided that he wasn't there and he'd pass him by…

…until his cupboard was jerked open.

Cloud jumped. He was suddenly eye-to-eye with Fredrick, whose face still hadn't changed, even though Cloud could sense the glee rolling off him. Or what Cloud's terror called glee.

"Master Cloud," he said, and stepped forward.

Cloud jerked up the knife, holding the tip inches away from Fredrick's fuzzy chest. It kept shaking all over the place, but it was pretty much held straight on.

Fredrick looked down at the knife, and then back up at Cloud. He took another step forward.

Cloud scrambled back into the cupboard, blurting, "Don't come any closer! I…I _swear _I'll use this knife!"

Fredrick looked blandly at him. "I'm here for you, Master Cloud." Another step. The knife was pressed right against the bear now. Cloud squeezed his eyes shut, hands gripping the knife tightly. He could do this. He could do this.

Fredrick took another step forward. Cloud could thrust the knife, just once…

"I can't do it," Cloud sobbed. The knife clattered to the floor between them, and Cloud buried his face in his hands. He couldn't stab his teddy bear. That was just so wrong on so many levels.

He was just a big sissy. He couldn't go through with it.

"I-I just don't know what's _wrong," _Cloud sobbed, rubbing his eyes harshly. "It's all gone so _bad, _and I don't know what's going _on _anymore. I just—I just want everything to go back to normal!" He curled up even more on himself, whispering, "I'm so _scared_."

He stayed there, curled up and whimpering pathetically, waiting for his teddy bear to do something to him. When he felt something press up against his legs, he squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for a horrible death or possession or…or whatever was coming—

—but instead, nothing like that happened.

Cloud sniffled, peeling his hands back from his damp face.

Fredrick had spread his arms as wide as they could go—which wasn't very far, all things considering. He had taken the final step forward, and was draped all over Cloud's shins. It was, obviously, not an attack of any sort.

Fredrick was _hugging_ Cloud.

Fredrick looked up at Cloud, his button eyes dark. "When Master Cloud was smaller, and did not disillusion himself with 'giving me away'—" (Despite the situation, Cloud could pick up on a hint of sarcasm there) "—he used to get upset, or scared. He used to cry." The teddy bear pressed closer. "Whenever he used to cry, I would always be there to comfort him. And I still am, now. It's my job."

Cloud sniffled. "S-So...you're not going to…hurt me?"

"No."

Cloud stared down at the teddy bear before scooping him up, squeezing him close to his pajama clad chest, and crying into the top of his head.

"I'm just so confused," Cloud said, his voice small.

Fredrick looked blankly up at him, apparently undisturbed at being clung to.

"Don't worry, Master Cloud," he said monotonously, "Everything will be all right."

Cloud didn't quite believe him, but in the wake of the bear coming alive and scaring him half to death, the statement was comforting nonetheless.

Or maybe the shock had just finally set in.

Either way, even if it didn't solve anything, having something to comfort him did make him feel better.

Just a little.


	4. Day 4

**._._._.**

**11:11**

**A Double Digit Final Fantasy VII Fan-Fiction**

**._._._.**

**DAY FOUR**

**CLOUD'S FOURTH BIRTHDAY PARTY. STRIFE FAMILY COUSINS' HOUSE. 3:00 PM.**

_"I dun care if it's heal-_fy." _Cloud crossed his arms, his lip poking out in a pout. "I dun wanna eat it."_

_Cloud, as young as he was, had already learned to judge what his mother was thinking by her facial expressions. Right now, her face was promising bad things later_—_Cloud couldn't exactly form words to voice what _kind _of bad things, but he was sure they were something very bad indeed._

_"S' my birthday," Cloud loudly declared, deciding that he needed more than just a tantrum to get his way. "I dun hafta eat vegs."_

_His mother raised his eyebrow, leaning down and taking up Cloud's personal space. "You're eating your vegetables or you're not getting any sweets."_

_"But thas not _fair!" _Cloud protested. _

_His mother rolled her eyes, pushing the plate closer. "_Life _isn't fair," she said_—_which didn't make much sense to Cloud besides that he couldn't get out of eating his food._

_Cloud grudgingly ate his vegetables, making empathetically disgusted noises even though his mother obviously didn't care. While he ate, he thought as close to vulgarity as a four-year-old could_—_mostly picked up from Zack. _

_The logical thing to wish for would be that he would never have to eat vegetables again. Cloud thought that was a really cool wish, and almost opened his mouth to speak, but never got to it; his mother was talking again._

_"Even if candy rained from the sky every day, people would still eat vegetables, to stay healthy," his mother lectured, before cutting herself off, rinsing something in the sink. _

_Cloud's mouth snapped shut, his mother's words now replacing what he'd been originally thinking. A world without vegetables was tempting…but a world where candy rained from the sky was even more _interesting.

_Besides, he couldn't think of a way to express that he wanted vegetables gone _and _that he wanted candy to rain from the sky._

_"I wish candy would rain from the sky," he declared, crossing his arms. _

_"Really?" his mother didn't seem to be paying attention to him anymore. _

_"Then I would eat it," Cloud continued. "I would eat candy and no vegs!"_

_"Hm," his mother said._

_She wasn't listening to his amazing newly-four logic. Cloud stuck out his bottom lip, contemplating starting a tantrum over it; but that didn't seem to be worth it as the doorbell rang._

_"That's probably your friends," his mother said. "Go get one of your cousins to open the door for you."_

_Cloud was already out of his chair and scampering down the hallway, though, no mind that he couldn't properly reach the doorknob. After a short breakdown when he couldn't open the door, and Zack_—_first, as always_—_finally got inside, he completely forgot the random wish, and didn't make another one. _

._._._.

Cloud didn't do anything at all besides drift in and out of sleep. When he finally woke up, he was sure that at least twenty-four hours had passed.

That information, _and_ that it was unbelievably stuffy wherever he was.

It took some time for him to wriggle out of wherever he'd been stuck, and then he dazedly looked around.

Cloud had been sleeping underneath the overturned couch, for some reason. He couldn't even remember moving from underneath the cupboard. His pajamas were rank and sweaty and all stuck to him, but now he was suddenly cold; he hadn't turned up the heat, had he?

Where was Fredrick?

Quietly, Cloud wandered into the kitchen. Fredrick had somehow ended up on the counter, and he was leaning too far over the stove to be safe. Cloud peeked over his shoulder, catching sight of a badly mangled egg in the skillet. There was egg all over Fredrick's arms, too, and crushed shells on the counter.

"Master Cloud," Fredrick said, waving an arm. Egg splattered on the countertop. "I made you breakfast."

Cloud held back a wince. It looked like there was bear hair in there.

"No thank you, uh, Friend Fredrick. I have leftovers." Eyeing Fredrick a little warily, Cloud inched to the refrigerator and swiped his hand until he located the takeout container. Shooting his bear a wary smile, he sat gingerly on the island and began picking at the insides. It looked like stir-fried rice. Old _stale_ stir-fried rice.

Ah well. It was better than hairy eggs.

It took some getting used to, watching Fredrick move around. He skidded through the eggshells, cleaning himself up best he could, and turned every once and a while to give Cloud deep, thoughtful looks that were probably supposed to mean different emotions. Too bad his teddy couldn't smile at him.

Cloud chewed slowly, keeping his eyes on Fredrick as he thought. Everything that had happened so far seemed to be moving in a pattern, but he wasn't sure exactly what _kind _of pattern. He couldn't say that it'd happened before; he would've noticed if his pajamas had refused to come off before. So then what?

"Fredrick," he said carefully, his legs swinging back and forth, "Have you ever…been alive before? Do you know why you're alive right now?"

Fredrick glanced up, staring at him. Cloud squirmed.

"I was _always_ alive, Master Cloud," he finally said, turning back to his cleanup.

Okay…

"But…do you know how you're… _alive_ alive now?" Cloud persisted.

"Master Cloud," Fredrick said blankly, "I have always been _alive_ alive. I can remember every single moment from when I was first bought."

…Fredrick was obviously not going to be any help.

Cloud chewed his lip now, all out of rice. If he couldn't understand _adults_ before, when they were making all those strange noises—well, then, why not Zack? He could understand _Zack _perfectly, but that didn't make any sense. Zack acted immature, sure, but he was biologically older than Cloud, and was an adult…sort of. Why did Cloud know what he was saying?

"Master Cloud," Fredrick said, pointing out the window. "The mailman has arrived."

Cloud peered through the blinds, squinting against the bright sunlight. His mailbox looked stuffed, probably because he hadn't checked it yesterday. In fact—Cloud frowned—he hadn't gone in to work yesterday, either. He needed to get back on top of things.

As much as he wanted a shower, Cloud decided it could wait until after he checked the mail. Nothing very bad could happen outside, in the meantime. Then he had to face up and figure out how to explain about his absence the day before.

Easy peasy.

Cloud grabbed his coat off the rack, zipping it up before opening up his door. Even though he got hit with a blast of frigid air, it was still beautiful outside. His mood significantly brightened, Cloud hopped down the steps and hit the path.

Immediately, a shadow fell over him.

Cloud blinked in confusion, looking up. The rest of the sky was still a bright, electric blue, common for a wintry day. But, directly over Cloud's head, an ugly green-black cloud was slowly swirling into existence.

Where did that come from? It had just been a beautiful day, and now it looked like it was going to rain—not only that, but only over _Cloud's _house! Cloud's face crinkled up in a frown. That was odd. Well, it was only going to take a second to get the mail, and he didn't want to be stuck outside in the freezing rain. He skipped forward, opening his mailbox and peeking inside.

Something small and hard smashed into his head from behind.

With a yelp, Cloud spun around, looking for the cause.

The yard was completely empty.

Rubbing his head with a scowl, Cloud scanned the ground for a clue of what had hit him.

He blinked.

The only thing at his feet was a small, red ball. Cautiously, he stepped on it, rolling it underfoot, before stepping back. It was a candy, now crushed.

Cloud frowned. The street was deserted, so he couldn't see who had dared to throw at him. He wasn't usually mean to anyone or anything, so there was no need for someone to _throw_ something at him.

Something else smacked, _hard, _into his shoulder. Cloud swiveled his head, staring.

A packet of...Smarties? And the street was still deserted. Something wasn't right. Uneasily, Cloud backed towards the house, looking up at the sky—

—and something red and white flew into his eye.

Just like that, the heavens literally opened up.

Candy of all kinds suddenly poured down on Cloud from seemingly out of nowhere. A Snickers bar ricocheted off his wrist with the force of buckshot; a shower of Pixie Stix split in midair, spilling the stinging sugar right into his face. With a yelp, clutching his eye with one hand, Cloud dropped like he'd been shot, throwing his arms over his head. It didn't seem to help, though, because he still continued to be pelted by millions of candy.

Eyes—well, good eye—wide, Cloud tilted his head forward, swiveling it under his makeshift shelter. The cloud that had been gathering overhead seemed to be only confined to his backyard, because the rest of the street was completely clear. His lawn, however, was rapidly disappearing underneath a thick layer of candies.

Being completely exhausted from all the screaming he'd done the days before, Cloud just stared

Then, he gathered up his mail and ran towards the door, pelted mercilessly by the candies, and slipping on the ones on the ground. Cloud fell twice, earning a throbbing foot and a scraped arm.

Cloud loved candy, but really; this was ridiculous.

Apparently, the candy had gotten whiff of his intentions, because a sudden heavy downpour opened up in front of him, blinding him with candy corn. Cloud stopped, skidded around it; when had his front yard become so big? Where was the door?

And that was when something began crawling up his leg.

Cloud looked down in horror to see dozens of Sourpatch Kids swarming up his shoes, grabbing at the hem of his coat, and disappearing up his pajama pant legs. With a shriek, Cloud began doing the wiggles, trying to dislodge the sticky feeling steadily making its way up his thighs.

The Swedish Fish in his hair, meanwhile, squirmed around his neck and to Cloud's open mouth, seemingly determined to get inside. Cloud wasn't about to just eat possessed candy, though, and he clamped his mouth and eyes shut and _ran _for the door.

He finally reached the porch, groping desperately for the door; he felt the pattern, but couldn't seem to find the doorknob. Cloud scrambled at the hinges, panicked, until he finally felt the familiar round shape in his hands. He flung open the door and slammed it, best he could.

Once Cloud closed the door behind him, the rainfall pitter-patter suddenly ceased. Cloud peeked out the window beside the door blankly.

The candy had abruptly stopped falling.

His front lawn was buried in inches of candy.

Cloud kind of felt like curling up in the doorway and crying for no reason, but instead he stumbled down the hallway, ending up at the mirror. He gingerly touched his eye, wincing; it was surrounded by a slight tinge of purple. Not as bad as it could be. He had Swedish Fish sticking out of his hair and ears; his skin was covered with rapidly bluing bruises. Motionless Sourpatch Kids lay forlornly at his feet, and Cloud could feel more jammed inside his pants.

It was a horrific feeling, but all Cloud could really feel was numb.

Cloud trudged to the kitchen. Fredrick had been trying to do something with the flour, and now he was white as a sheet. Cloud betted that it was now all stuck to the egg, too. Still stiffly, he walked over, scooping Fredrick off the counter and carrying him into the next room over, heading for the washing machine. Fredrick erupted in sudden wiggling.

"You cannot do this to me, Master Cloud," he protested. "You cannot put me in the machine of washing."

Cloud set Fredrick in the machine, poured in a gratuitous amount of soap, and shut the lid to Fredrick's protests. He slid down against the machine, trying to relax against the vibrations as he thought.

In the period of time that he transferred Fredrick to the drier (still complaining) he had managed to trace this all starting to the day after he'd gone to the park with Zack. By the time Fredrick came out of the drier, Cloud carefully picked him up, carrying him into the other room and picking up the phone.

First call: Zack. Basically a lie about how he wasn't home (wince) and to not bother coming over.

Second, Aeris, asking her to please _please_ call him back (because she would know what to do).

Third, his boss; Cloud was glad he didn't pick up, because the message was basically a string of gurgles. He pardoned himself for the next week; if all went right, it would end before that, but it was best to be prepared.

He tried to call his mom, but when she picked up with a cooed gurgle, he quickly hung up. He still couldn't figure out what the deal with that was.

Drifting back into the hallway, Cloud realized his front door was open, and curiously peered around the doorway. Fredrick was standing in the middle of the yard, gathering up candy as best he could with his stubby hands. He spotted Cloud, waving, "Master Cloud. You love candy. What kind do you like?"

Cloud peered up at the sky, stepping out on the porch. As soon as he did, the strange cloud returned, this time even a brighter green. As soon as he hit the lawn, the candy began to pour. As soon as he hastily stepped back, the candy stopped.

Cloud frowned. Now _that _was odd.

He sprinted forward, picking up Fredrick and immediately heading back to the house. He shut the door, locked it, and headed for the trashed living room. Kneeling in front of the bookshelf, Cloud began pulling out picture albums, biting down hard on his tongue.

"What are you doing, Master Cloud?" Fredrick asked. He held up a piece of candy, and, distractedly, Cloud took it.

"I want to know what's going on," Cloud said.

"If I may suggest," Fredrick said, "Master Cloud's friend Zack might be helpful in finding something specific."

Cloud froze, considering it, before shaking his head.

"Why not?"

"I don't want him to come over when I'm all messed up like this," Cloud said. It was a stupid excuse, but Fredrick didn't call him out on it. The real reason was actually that Cloud didn't want anything bad to happen to Zack. He was sure if Zack came over, something really bad would happen, and as Cloud was a scrawny scaredy-cat, he wouldn't be able to do anything if…if candy kids tried to eat Zack, or if his elderly next door neighbor suddenly started speaking in gurgles.

Apparently deciding that Cloud wasn't coming back outside, the 'rain cloud' moved to swirling outside his window. It was raining blue gumdrops at an unhealthy rate.

Cloud loved blue gumdrops.

Cloud was losing his mind.

Zack called twice while he was sitting there. Cloud didn't answer once. He would apologize to Zack when this was all over, even if it _was_ mostly his fault.

"Okay," he whispered, opening another album. "Time to look for clues."


	5. Day 5

**._._._.**

**11:11**

**A Double Digit Final Fantasy VII Fan-Fiction**

**._._._.**

**DAY FIVE**

**CLOUD'S FIFTH BIRTHDAY PARTY. STRIFE FAMILY BACKYARD. 3:00 PM.**

_By the time Cloud was five, he had quite a lot of friends to invite to birthday parties. He played with them, fought with them, and shared slobbery handshakes and tackle hugs. Of course, there was always cake. _

_There were also the kids who weren't his friends, that tagged along courtesy of Cloud's mother; but that was okay. So long as they were willing to play with Cloud, it was completely fine._

_It was at this stage that Cloud discovered that it was considered cute for little boys and girls to say that they liked each other. That was completely fine too, because Cloud liked everyone._

_It was then that he met Tifa._

_Tifa was a cute little girl, all pigtails and big brown eyes. She kicked a lot of people, and punched more people, and seemed to have been self-invited to Cloud's birthday party. Cloud's aunt said something about her shirt being "highly inappropriate", but Cloud had no idea what that meant. All he knew was that he didn't like her very much, and he wanted her _out _of his birthday party. _

_After a while, though; he guessed she was pretty okay. She seemed kind of girly, but she was okay at tag, which made her all right in his book. He heard the adults giggling, saying that they were little sweethearts, which he didn't quite understand. 'Sweetheart' was what his mum called him when he was being bad, and he wasn't being bad at the moment._

_Then they giggled again, saying that Tifa might be a good wife for Cloud later in life._

_Hold the literal phone._

_Cloud understood that you had to love people in order to get married to them, and he didn't love Tifa, because Tifa took the last scoop of ice cream without asking _him _if he wanted it first. Then again, though; it seemed to be correct for him, a boy, to be in love with her, a little girl. So maybe you just grew into love, sort of. It all made sense in the stream of consciousness Cloud had, even if it was a little confusing afterwards, so he just accepted it; it made it easier than thinking it the whole way true. So, he went up to his mother and aunts, beamed up at them, and said,_

"_When I grow up, I wish Tifa would marry me."_

_The adults stared at him, and then cooed, and Tifa stopped punching him and gave him this odd look that had Cloud feeling rather smug. He didn't really understand that what he said was _so _bad; after all, he didn't really understand what he was wishing for in the first place, so he couldn't understand future implications._

_He forgot all about it when Zack, the one kid he really, _really_ liked, smacked him It._

._._._.

Cloud woke with a feeling of ugly dread deep in the pit of his stomach, though he had absolutely no idea why. He had apparently fallen asleep slumped over a box, and though he'd slept well enough, he now had a bad crick in his neck. Plus, his room was even more trashed; there were old boxes of stuff he'd dragged from the basement and attic, and more albums scattered between the overturned furniture.

Still feeling uneasy, Cloud blearily looked down at Fredrick, who was placidly pinned to Cloud's chest with his arm. Cloud winced in embarrassment—his bear was covered in drool. He discreetly tried to wipe it away with his pajama sleeve, hoping Fredrick wouldn't notice.

"Good morning, Master Cloud," Fredrick intoned, still lying completely rigid. Cloud jumped a little. "I have been lying here for the past five hours, for you, because I am here for you."

What _was _it with this teddy bear? Gingerly, Cloud lifted Fredrick up, setting him gently on the floor and giving him a little push. Fredrick toddled off a distance, heading for the kitchen—and, probably, more mangled eggs. As Cloud had no leftovers to fall back on, he figured that he should follow him in there and make his own breakfast.

Cloud stretched his arms above his head, heading into the kitchen, and held up his notebook.

The past afternoon and evening, Cloud had gone through every single bit of his past that he could find; baseball meets, losing his teeth, and ballet classes (which, if he remembered correctly, Zack had teased him mercilessly for). He hadn't been sure exactly what he was looking for, but he did know that Friday night, when he'd made that small, vague wish with Zack, something had been set into motion. Somehow, all of his wishes were coming true.

Well, not all of his wishes. There _was_ that _one_—back from when he was six or seven— when he'd wished that he could fly. _That _one didn't come true (which Cloud was very, very disappointed to note). Whichever wishes these ones were, Cloud couldn't quite remember them, which was bad, because according to the pattern, another one was set to come true that day.

Cloud frowned absently, digging through the fridge and snagging the orange juice. Fredrick was dragging the egg carton across the counter towards the stove at a slow, determined rate, and Cloud sighed, turning around to stop him.

"If you get messy, I have to put you in the washing machine," Cloud warned, watching his bear freeze. He reached up, putting Fredrick on the island and taking up the eggs himself.

"I just wanted to help," Fredrick said morosely. "Master Cloud does not need to put me in the machine of washing just because I wished to help."

Cloud opened his mouth to comfort him, when the doorbell suddenly rang. He shut his mouth, blinking; whenever anyone visited, they didn't use the doorbell, because they couldn't usually find it; instead, they just knocked. Setting down the carton, Cloud crept to the hallway, peeking through the peephole.

Tifa was standing there, shifting from foot to foot. Cloud blinked; he hadn't seen Tifa in a long time, and he didn't know what she was suddenly doing there. He was a little hesitant to open the door, considering everything going on, but then again, Tifa was level-headed. She probably would understand.

"Hey," Tifa said, smiling as Cloud opened the door.

Cloud cautiously smiled back. "Hi Teef! What's up?"

Tifa's eyes shifted away, her smile growing a little wider. She looked remarkably happy, for some reason, and that lightened Cloud's mood a little.

"I just wanted to stop by for a moment…if that's okay?"

"Sure," Cloud said, stepping aside to let Tifa in. He was trying very hard to avoid contact, because he remembered he hadn't taken a bath; Tifa wasn't very touchy-feely, so he was thankful for that. To his shock, however, Tifa leaned in, threw her arms around him, and pulled him in very, very close to her. A little too close. Cloud squirmed in embarrassment; his pajamas were all sweaty and smelly, and he'd been hoping to avoid it. Tifa didn't seem to care, though, as she pulled away, smiling lopsidedly as she stared down at Cloud. As Cloud was way smaller than her, he was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable, and almost ran for the kitchen.

"Did you have any breakfast?" Cloud blabbered. "I was just making something to eat, myself—"

"No thank you," Tifa said, still a _little too close behind him. _Her eyes traveled very, very slowly from his hair to his toes, before her face split in another weird smile. "I already ate."

Cloud made his breakfast. Fredrick was pretending to be a normal teddy bear on the couch, which Cloud was relieved for, not very much because it would scare Tifa, but because he was scared of what this abnormal Tifa might do to Fredrick.

Cloud began to eat in huge mouthfuls, increasingly uncomfortable as Tifa just watched him eat. Finally, when he couldn't take it anymore, he beamed at her, asking, "So, what'd you wanna talk about?"

Tifa blinked, and then grinned, like she was waiting for Cloud to ask that very question. Sliding out of her chair, she sashayed over to Cloud chair, pulled it out harshly with one hand, and sank to her knee in front of him.

Cloud blinked, stopping his chewing.

Tifa took his hand in her abnormally hot ones, and smiled. "Cloud Strife. I've admired you for a long time."

Cloud looked over his shoulder to see if there was another Cloud Strife standing there. There wasn't.

"I know that you've admired me too." Another coy smile that chilled Cloud to the bones. "So, I would like to ask you…would you do the honor of marrying me?"

Buh-link.

Cloud choked.

Thankfully, before Fredrick blew his cover and came over to try to do the Heimlich maneuver, he managed to swallow the lump, blinking his tearing eyes as he looked incredulously down at Tifa.

"_WHAT?"_

"I asked you to marry me," Tifa said, inching closer.

"B-But _Tifa!" _Cloud hadn't been expecting this. Of course, he didn't want to marry Tifa; and he wasn't even prepared to get married. And if he did get married, he had someone else very different in mind from _Tifa. _At the same time, though, he didn't want to hurt her feelings, so he just stared at her.

"No buts," Tifa said, her hand smoothing over Cloud's knee. "I know you feel the same way." She beamed up at him, and Cloud noticed a very strange look in her eyes; something there that shouldn't be. "Don't you, Cloud?"

Time for an escape plan.

"But Tifa," Cloud protested, inching backwards, "Aren't—Aren't _guys _supposed to be the ones who propose?"

Tifa's face darkened, and Cloud felt like shrinking. "It's the twenty-first century, Cloud," she snapped at him. "Girls can propose if they want to."

What was he supposed to do? Cloud was internally panicking, but he tried to stay as calm as he could on the outside. "But Tifa…I'm not ready to get married."

Tifa's smile was immediately back. "I am."

Obviously.

"Now, don't you accept?" Tifa asked, leaning in _way _too close to his face. Cloud leaned back, sirens going off in his head. He shut his eyes with a sigh. There was nothing else to do but hurt Tifa's feelings.

"I'm sorry, Tifa," he said quietly, "But I don't like you in that way. I'm kinda… different, and I didn't expect you to feel that way. I'm sorry."

There was a second's pause.

Then, Tifa's fist shot out, nailing Cloud in the stomach.

Cloud doubled over, gasping in pain, as Tifa grabbed him by the collar and brought them nose to nose. Her eyes narrowed dangerously, her mouth opening in a carnivorous grin.

"Maybe," she hissed, "A kiss will change your mind."

Oh. _Heck. _No.

Tifa lunged forward, her lips puckered for a kiss, and Cloud shrieked, ducking out of her hold. His duck pulled her fistful of pajama shirt out of her hold, and Cloud landed awkwardly on the floor, squashed between Tifa and the chair. He tried to squirm out of it, but Tifa grabbed him by the back of his shirt, dragging him towards her.

Cloud hadn't wanted to, all those years of his mother scolding him to 'not hit girls' bearing down on him…but he was sure if his mom saw the situation, she'd understand.

Cloud balled up his fist, slamming it into Tifa's thigh.

Cloud didn't have any fighting experience like Tifa, but he was apparently docile enough that this sudden act of violence shocked Tifa, loosening her grip. Cloud jerked away, scrambling for the kitchen doorway, and screaming as Tifa grabbed a huge handful of his hair, dragging him backwards again. He kicked out, punching, until he finally got loose, and he ran out into the hallway, huffing. It was a bad move, however, because as Tifa came into the hallway, he was cornered.

"You will get married to me," Tifa growled, stalking forward. Cloud plastered himself against the front door, screaming shrilly as Tifa pressed up against him. She swooped down, crying out in outrage as her nose slammed against Cloud's forehead; Cloud had swiveled his head away. She grabbed his chin, forcing it upwards and pinning his head against the wall.

Cloud began to cry.

"I don't _wanna _be kissed by a girl," he blubbered. "I don't _want _my first kiss to be a girl. I don't _wanna _get married to a girl."

"Oh, suck it up, sissy," Tifa snarled, pulling his hair back. "This is what normal people do. Get used to it." She leaned in. "Now pucker up."

Something moved between Cloud's legs; it felt like a fuzzy cat, or something, but Cloud didn't have a cat, and _to heck if he cared._

He suddenly cared a whole lot more, though, when the front door suddenly swung open behind him. He and Tifa shrieked in unison—Cloud in confusion, Tifa in outrage—as they tumbled head over heels down the steps and onto the grass.

Cloud looked up, his vision blurring; he could see Fredrick peering out from behind the door, and he could easily put two and two together. He thanked his lucky stars for his teddy, but he still wasn't out of the hot water yet; Tifa had rolled over on him, pinning him to the ground. Her hair was mussed, her eyes were glowing with a strange craze, and she apparently still wasn't giving up.

Cloud closed his eyes and, with all his might, prayed.

And then…it started to rain.

Or hail, considering.

A patter of frozen Nerds hit Cloud, forcing him to close his eyes as he squirmed; then a shower of rock-hard mints hit the ground around him. Tifa blinked, coming a little out of her daze as she looked around herself, and Cloud took the moment to squirm, pushing her off of him and running for it. Tifa growled, reaching for him—

—and then, suddenly, her eyes widened and she fell forward.

Cloud screamed. Sure, he didn't want to marry her, but she was still his friend, and he didn't want her to _die. _After a moment, though, she shifted, lifting her head; a huge chunk of ice surrounding a gobstopper had hit her head, dead center. Tifa looked at him, eyes smoldering.

Cloud streaked up the steps, flew through the door, and slammed it shut. Behind him, the "snowfall" slowed and stopped. He peeked out the window; Tifa had gotten to her feet, absolutely furious at his escape, and screaming profanities at Cloud's face pressed against the window.

"You may hide in your house for now!" She shrieked, "But you can't hide in there forever, Cloud Strife! I'll get you!"

Cloud turned numbly away from the window, set his back to the wall, and slid down, curling his knees into his chest. Something bumped into his shins as Fredrick crawled up his legs, insinuating himself into Cloud's arms. Cloud gladly welcomed it. He needed a little comfort.

Outside, Tifa began to rage and rant, threatening his very existence.

Cloud reached up and quietly clicked the lock, then went back to burying his head in Fredrick's fur and pretending that it was all just a dream.


	6. Day 6

**._._._.**

**11:11**

**A Double Digit Final Fantasy VII Fan-Fiction**

**._._._.**

**DAY SIX**

**CLOUD'S SIXTH BIRTHDAY, AFTER PARTY. CLOUD STRIFE'S BEDROOM. 5:00 PM.**

_Cloud liked his room._

_Well, as much as a kid could. He liked getting new glow in the dark stars and sticking them to the ceiling. He liked his yellow chocobo-print sheets. He liked looking out his window, and his nightlight stuck in the corner, _even _if Zack said it was for scaredy-babies._

_In all, Cloud loved his room_—_a lot._

_Except for one small thing._

_He hated cleaning it up._

Even _if it was his birthday, even if he was sick, even if he was dying, he would still have to clean his room. He had had to clean it before the guests came, which made him a little grumpy, but it was pretty okay. But now, since he took his friends into his room and now it was all a mess, he had to clean it _again. _He couldn't even skimp out, because his Dad was watching him from the doorway, eyes narrowed._

_Cloud threw his hat into the closet; Dad made him go and put it in his drawer._

_Cloud put the sheets on upside down, just 'cause the pale yellow chocobos looked cooler; Dad made him turn them over again. _

_Cloud was scared of the vacuum cleaner, because it was a lot larger than him and would probably eat his toys _and _him; Dad turned it on anyway, scaring Cloud half to death. _

_When his father, exasperated, went and dug him out of the closet (where he sought refuge from the vacuum cleaner), Cloud was buried underneath his extra pillows and blankets, exposing only his chubby, outraged face._

_"I wish," Cloud said huffily, "That my room would clean itself!"_

_It was a nice wish, sure, but it didn't change anything. Cloud gathered up his dirty clothes in a huff; his clean clothes were folded up and put away. _

_When the room was clean, however, and Dad took him back downstairs for a piece of leftover birthday cake with his Mom, Cloud forgot all about his wish. _

_Unfortunately._

._._._.

Cloud lay in bed, wide awake.

The day before, when he had made the grave mistake of letting Tifa into his house, had turned into a nightmare. Tifa apparently didn't want to give up. She screamed at his windows, banged at his door, and stomped around on his lawn, kicking frozen pieces of candy. She demanded that he let her inside. Cloud had made sure to lock all his windows and his doors, and closed all the blinds for good measure.

He had made it up to his room on the fact that, since it was a whole floor above Tifa, he would be able to go to sleep better. Fredrick was still trying to climb up the sheets, but Cloud was too fixated on the window to lend him a hand. Tifa had tried to smash one of the windows downstairs to let herself in, and Cloud didn't want that to happen.

Tifa, however, had worn herself hoarse, and with one, final glare at the house behind her, she stalked away into the dark.

Cloud stared after her to be sure.

There was no doubt that she'd be back the next morning, but…for now, Cloud's front yard was silent.

Cloud was much too relieved to rejoice.

Flopping back on the bed, Cloud lifted Fredrick up, laying him down on the pillow next to him. He was nearly dead on his feet, and was looking forward to a long night in his own bed. For the past two nights, he'd been sleeping under couches and sprawled over cardboard boxes, or being sleepless because of his rogue wishes. Tonight, he actually wanted to sleep.

Cloud closed his eyes, sunk his head in his pillow, and began to drift off.

This lasted all of four seconds. From the hallway, there came a sudden creak on the stairs. Cloud brushed it off as the house settling down for the night, and closed his eyes again.

Then came two more creaks, and Cloud's eyes shot open.

Someone was on the stairs.

Turning his head, he saw Fredrick lying next to him; so he hadn't left. The next, horrific thought that crossed his mind was that it was Tifa, and that she'd somehow gotten into his house, and was coming to wed him—_right now_. But just as he was starting to panic, that thought was hastily discarded too, because Tifa was _not _the sort to sneak up steps. If it was Tifa, he was sure that he'd hear her coming.

The only other thing he could think of was that either another wish had come true, and maybe superstar Reeve Tuesti was coming up to his room…or a serial killer had snuck into the house. Either one would be horrifying; Cloud sat upright in bed, groping around for something to defend himself with. His hand found something fuzzy and worn.

Cloud looked down. He'd grabbed Fredrick.

Fredrick looked up at him.

Cloud looked down at Fredrick.

After reluctant deliberation, he decided that throwing Fredrick at the intruder was not the best way of going about things, and he instead braced himself, ready to run away if need be.

The door slowly creaked open, and Cloud stared. Peering around the doorway was a handle; the handle of Cloud's feather duster, which he hardly ever used. For a moment, Cloud thought in horror that Reeve-Tuesti-slash-serial-killer was planning to bash in his head with a _feather duster_…but instead, the door swung all the way open, and he could see that it was _just _a feather duster.

Then, the feather duster shuffled forward a little, tentatively hopping forward.

…okay, _just _a _moving _feather duster.

At this point, it didn't really phase Cloud. He watched blankly as the feather duster wobbled awkwardly into the room, hopping up onto the desk, and beginning to sweep back and forth. Cloud, unknowingly, let out a little sigh of relief. It seemed like that was it. It was just a feather duster this time. Nothing scary.

Then, his closet door swung open.

Cloud swiveled his head, eyes wide, but there was no one _in _the closet directly; instead, the clothes hamper waddled out awkwardly, empty and flopping. The dirty clothes dragged themselves out behind it, reaching out empty sleeves and legs to snag the bag, pulling it backwards. The alarm clock scraped itself off the desk and hopped onto the floor, wiggling itself around on the carpet to dislodge the dust from it. The blinds began shaking themselves, and a thick cloud of dust descended on the room. This snapped Cloud a little out of his trance, and he coughed, reaching up to cover his nose. The entire picture was altogether horrifying.

Then, arms reached up over the side of the bed, groping towards the center. Cloud shrieked, recoiling from the edge; the blank eyes of a sock monkey stared balefully up at him. Video game cases trailed after it, forming a steady army. They weren't reaching for Cloud, however, but for Fredrick. He was snagged, and dragged down to the floor, where they began moving for the closet.

Fredrick turned, flailing his arm towards Cloud. "Help, Master Cloud!" he said, though his tone was still as unworried as ever. "They seek to put me in the box of giving away!"

Cloud, horrified by the entire display, reached out an arm, but the abandoned toys sped up the pace. The giveaway box opened, and they all disappeared inwards; the box closed with the hungry sound of something starved.

The _giveaway box _had just _eaten Fredrick._

Cloud screamed. He scrambled to untangle himself from the sheets to go rescue his teddy bear, but it seemed to be taking too long to do anything. When he looked down, he was horrified to find that the sheets were coiling around his legs, crawling steadily upwards.

"No!" Cloud cried, pushing at his legs, but the sheets just kept climbing upwards. They tucked themselves into the mattress even as Cloud squirmed, and the comforter and blanket piled themselves right on top of that. Cloud wailed, wriggling with all his might, but he was effectively trapped.

The alarm clock hopped back on the desk, adjusting itself to a perfect one-eighty-degree angle with an agonizing squeak…and then, the room went silent.

Cloud struggled with his covers, feeling like a mummy; the sheets had done the military style tuck in, and usually, he would need someone else's help to get him out—but he still had to save Fredrick from the closet, and he couldn't count on anyone to come and help him. After a few moments, he managed to get out an arm, gritting his teeth as he tore the covers off of him. As soon as Cloud hopped out of the bed, the sheets snapped back into place, and Cloud shuddered in relief.

He flung open the closet door, prying open the giveaway box and digging through to the bottom; at the very bottom, pinned underneath the sock monkey and an old video, was a struggling Fredrick. Cloud pulled him out, hugging him close to his chest.

The respite was short-lived when the closet seethed in outrage, reaching out sleeves to tuck toys back in the giveaway box. Quite a few sleeves reached for Fredrick, and Cloud clutched him tighter, backing away. He opened the bedroom door, backing out in the hallway, and then closing it softly behind him. After that, he ran.

He snagged a blanket from the hall closet, and pretty much fell down the stairs; it took only a few, frantic moments to fix the couch and grab the phone. Then, Cloud threw the blanket over his head, holding it under his chin, and huddled miserably with Fredrick.

He couldn't call Tifa, because right now, she'd kill him. For once, he willingly dialed Zack's number, listening shakily to the phone ring; but instead, he was greeted with Zack's cheery voice, just telling him to leave a message. Cloud blubbered something into the phone and hung up, returning to feeling miserable.

Of course, there was one person he hadn't tried yet.

Picking up the phone again, Cloud shakily dialed again.

"Aeris?" he whispered. "I need to talk to you. Please."

._._._.

Cloud's message had reached Aeris sometime around three o'clock in the morning; Aeris set out for Cloud's house around six o'clock, as soon as she received it.

She realized something was wrong when she walked up his driveway and found candy all over Cloud's front lawn. By now, a lot of it was soggy and somewhat frozen, and Aeris gingerly lifted up her skirts as she stepped over it. When she knocked on the door, she would usually hear Cloud calling out cheerily as he ran to the door; but instead, there was complete silence.

Ever so slowly, the door creaked open. Aeris craned her neck, and could just make out a worried blue eye peering out from the door.

"Aeris?" he whispered. "Is…that you?"

"Cloud?" Aeris smiled, though a little worriedly. "It's Aeris."

The worried blue eye narrowed. "It's not Tifa in disguise, right?"

Aeris stared at him. "Why would Tifa pretend to be me?"

The door shut again. It opened again, and Cloud stood there. Deep bags sat under his eyes, and he looked exhausted. He looked, and—Aeris tried hard not to wrinkle her nose—smelled like he hadn't slept properly in days.

He was also holding an umbrella over his head.

"It's not supposed to rain," Aeris told him gently.

"It's for the candy," Cloud said stiffly. "Every time I leave my house, it rains candy."

Silence.

"Really," Cloud insisted. He stepped off the steps, stood, and waited. Sure enough, a downpour of candy rolled off the top of the umbrella. Jumping, Aeris stepped forward, peering upwards; sure enough, there was a thick black cloud, raining KitKats.

Cloud walked numbly by the shocked Aeris, holding open the door for her. He led her into the living room, where Aeris perched on the couch.

A teddy bear waddled up, and Aeris couldn't help but stare.

"Hello, Master Cloud. Hello, guest. Would either of you like something to drink?"

Aeris nodded dumbly, and the bear bowed, disappearing into the kitchen.

Cloud giggled a little wildly now. "My teddy bear is talking to me, Aeris. _My teddy bear is talking to me." _Saying so, he went into a little hysterical fit before he suddenly went into a sobbing fit, hiccupping miserably. Without hesitating, Aeris reached over, pulling him into a hug.

"Shh, it's okay," she said gently. "Just tell me what's wrong."

Between hiccups, Cloud explained from the beginning; the wish with Zack, then the adults speaking weird, the pajamas, Fredrick, and on and on and on. Aeris tried to keep her eyes riveted on him—though it was kind of hard with the vacuum cleaner hopping up the stairs, and the teddy bear valiantly trying to bring lemonade for the both of them (spilling most of it on the carpet).

After a moment, when all was said, Cloud lay against Aeris' shoulder, taking solace in her pats. Aeris sighed then, running one hand through her hair.

"How come you didn't tell any of this to Zack?"

"I don't know," Cloud said morosely. He took his cup of lemonade—only containing about one-eighth of lemonade now—and sipped at it sadly. "I was afraid he—he wouldn't like me. Or—Or he would—"

"You know," Aeris said sharply, "That he wouldn't. Zack would completely understand, and he'd try to help you out."

"I just didn't want him to see that I was such a weakling," Cloud said, in a very small voice.

Aeris was silent, before she gave in. "I think I know what your problem is," she said. "I'm not sure if this is the solution, but…it probably is."

"Anything that'll help," Cloud said, "I'm willing to take."

"Okay, then," Aeris said, leaning towards him. "Here's what's going on. You made a wish on the 11th of the month, right?"

Cloud frowned. "Yes."

"You said when you last checked the clock, it was nearing eleven o'clock." Aeris took in a deep breath. "I know this sounds really farfetched, but…I think you actually did wish into a wishing well, and you made your wish around 11:11 o'clock."

Cloud blinked, loosening his grip.

"You wished for all of your wishes to come true," Aeris continued to explain, "But things got a little skewed. Since you wished while you're double digits in age, using a nickel instead of a regular penny, and then at 11:11—which is already a wishing time—the wishes just jumped to all the wishes that you had on your strongest wishing days—your birthdays."

"Would it have been different if I used a penny?"

"No," Aeris said, "It probably would have been worst. Probably, using the nickel saved you from the wishes being even _more _extreme than they already are."

Cloud thought of the Sourpatch Kids crawling up his pants, and his pajamas pinning him to the floor, and _shuddered_ to think of what 'more extreme' would entail.

"So what do I do?" Cloud asked desperately. "Won't they stop?"

Aeris frowned. "Wishes just don't stop like that. You have to do something to stop it yourself. Since you wished in the 11th month, on the 11th, at 11:11, while you are of the age of double digits, you have a prototype of what you do for your wishes to be accepted. So—this is a very, very rough guess—I think that you need to wish again eleven days from your first wish, at 11:11 again. If there were a 22nd month, you could wish on the 22nd day then…but you just have to hope that the 22nd of the eleventh month is enough to reverse it."

Cloud was very confused by now. "How did you figure _out _all that stuff?"

Aeris shrugged. "Basic common sense."

"So I have to wait five more days to make the reverse wish?" Cloud asked, feeling dread creep up on him again.

Aeris smiled at him, patting his hand. "Don't worry. You've dealt well enough up to now, so I'm sure you'll be all right for another few days. Besides—nothing _overly _bad can happen."

Cloud looked up at her doubtfully. He would have liked to believe that true…but judging on the past few days, he _highly _doubted that nothing 'overly bad' would happen.

Hopefully, it wouldn't be _too _overly bad…


	7. Day 7

**._._._.**

**11:11**

**A Double Digit Final Fantasy VII Fan-Fiction**

**._._._.**

**DAY SEVEN**

**CLOUD'S SEVENTH BIRTHDAY. STRIFE FAMILY BATHROOM. 8:00 AM.**

_It was inevitable for some of Cloud's birthdays to fall on schooldays, but each time one did, Cloud couldn't help but resent it with all his might. He had to get up early, same as always, and Mom wouldn't let him into any of the main rooms because she was still "preparing"_ —_or so she said. He had to take a shower, regardless of how chilly it was, and then find something appropriate to wear._

_ Brushing his teeth was just the straw that broke the camel's back._

_ Cloud scowled at himself in the mirror. Most of his teeth were falling out, sure, but he still thought they looked really good; besides, he brushed them every night, and he didn't _have _bad breath, because someone would've told him or backed away or something._

_ It was slow, monotonous going, too, because he couldn't just brush it quickly and rush out; nooooo, he had to brush them carefully, brush off his tongue, carefully rinse out his mouth, and brush around his loose teeth so the gums wouldn't bleed. It took forever._

_ Not for the first time, but for the first time out loud, Cloud _wished _that his teeth would just brush themselves._

_ It turned out, after that, that the day wasn't that bad at all; his teachers all wished him a happy birthday, and all of his friends at school were extra nice because he was seven now, and not a divisible number. As the day went on, and his party finally rolled around, Cloud had happily forgotten all about his angry wish._

._._._.

After Aeris left the night before, Cloud crashed on the couch. He didn't dare go back upstairs the same day—at least not until he could figure out how to get around the vacuum cleaner and actually sleep in his bed.

The next afternoon, Cloud lay blearily on his couch, his legs hanging over the side. He had been lazing around all day, contemplating. Five more days until he could wish again—and he didn't even know if that would work. The entire thing was unbearably depressing, and, as he'd been doing for the past few days, Cloud either felt like screaming, crying, or hiding in a small cabinet.

As he'd done all those things already, however, Cloud felt like trying a different approach. Instead of moping around feeling sorry for himself, he would clean himself up nicely, and face the day. He'd been hiding around too much, and it was time to seize the day, feel better, and make an effort to properly live through the next five days.

Besides. He really, really did need a bath. (Cloud could pretend that Aeris hadn't minded, but because he could actually smell _himself, _he didn't want to go another day without freshening up).

A quick stop to his room, and Cloud pulled out a pair of his blue pajamas, awkwardly sidestepping the vacuum, which seemed to be staring at him. He washed up hastily, changed into a new pair, and dumped the old ones into the laundry basket in the bathroom. He was about to leave, but took a moment to look in the mirror.

Cloud hadn't brushed his teeth in a long time. He experimentally grinned at himself, and winced immediately; he had food stuck in-between his teeth, and a thick layer of plaque caking his smile. It was hideous, and Cloud thanked his luckiest stars that Zack hadn't come after all. He didn't want Zack to see him like _this._

Humming absently, Cloud snagged his toothbrush from the rack, digging through the cabinet for the toothpaste. After a moment, he frowned; the toothpaste seemed to keep moving _just _out of his grasp. Finally, he looked inside to see.

The toothpaste had stood up on its end, moving away from Cloud's fingers. As Cloud stared, it shoved the cabinet door open, hopping onto the edge of the sink, where it wobbled precariously around.

The toothbrush in Cloud's hand twitched, and then began to wiggle. Numb, Cloud dropped it, and it landed on the sink next to the toothpaste. They bumped into each other, staggered around, and then briefly reconnected again. After that, they went into a frenzied sort of dance around each other—something that involved touching briefly and spinning away from each other, in some sort of 'long lost siblings reuniting' way.

Cloud, feeling awkward, decided that this was the moment to leave. Who needed to brush their teeth, anyway? He probably had some gum _somewhere _around here…

The toothpaste cap unscrewed itself, leaning close to the toothbrush, when leaned into it in turn. A generous amount of toothpaste was squeezed out. Cloud began backing quietly for the door.

Before he could leave, though, both the toothpaste and toothbrush froze, sharply turning to look at him. Cloud froze in turn, wondering what was up, when they both leapt at him.

Cloud automatically reached his hand out, swatting the toothpaste backwards. It landed in the sink with a clatter, immediately leaping up in outrage. The toothbrush, meanwhile, was digging into his shoulder, and then was against his neck, tickling there. Letting out a giggle, Cloud tilted his head to the side. The toothbrush continued tickling, and Cloud kept giggling, until he couldn't help it; he opened his mouth with a laugh.

And the toothbrush, seeing its chance, immediately leapt forward and into his mouth.

Cloud's eyes widened, and he tried to spit the brush out, but it was already scrubbing away at his back teeth—and way too harshly. Plus, it was pushing back a little too far, and Cloud gagged, reaching up and pulling at the end. The toothbrush backed off a little, probably realizing it was hurting him, but didn't let up its frantic brushing. Cloud opened his mouth a little, giving it some room, and it gradually slowed down, though it was still ripping his gums to shreds.

The toothbrush stopped its violent assault long enough to allow Cloud to spit—which was mostly blood, Cloud noted unhappily—before it started in on the other side. Finally, a quick scrub of the front of his teeth, before it apparently deemed Cloud clean, and promptly fell still.

Cloud shakily grinned at himself in the mirror, shrieked, and commenced rinsing his mouth out. By the time he was done, it didn't look quite as horrific anymore. Cloud closed the toothpaste up in the cabinet, turning and wobbling down the stairs.

Fredrick was nowhere to be seen. Cloud checked in several places, but couldn't find him anywhere; then he found the mess in the kitchen, and figured out what had happened. He sighed; he had no idea why Fredrick was so afraid of being washed, but he'd leave it alone for now.

Cloud perched on the edge of his couch, folding his hands neatly in his lap. Now that he was all clean and presentable again—and Fredrick was probably hiding from him somewhere—he actually felt very lonely. Upstairs, the vacuum cleaner was still attacking where he'd briefly stood to take out his pajamas. Aeris had had to go home, even if she said she would check up on him later.

Journeying back into the kitchen, Cloud noticed that he had been eating away at his food supply. The refrigerator was empty of his main supplies of food; orange juice, bread, and eggs. Cloud wrinkled his nose. Obviously, he had to venture out. The thought relieved him more than concerned him, and with more than a skip in his step, he hurriedly pulled on a coat.

He decided not to care about his pajama pants. Who cared what anyone thought?

"I'm going to the grocery store, Fredrick!" Cloud called back into the house, not waiting for a response. He opened the door, closing his eyes to take a deep breath of the frosty air.

He opened his eyes…

…and discovered that he was nose to nose with Zack.

Cloud shrieked, stumbling backwards, but Zack reached out and pulled him up.

"Hey," he said, grinning. "Thought you could hide from me forever, huh? Can I come in?"

Cloud started in horror, plastering himself into the door. "N-No!" he said, stuttering as he backed up. "I mean—sick —I mean—"

"You mean that Fredrick's in there," Zack said casually, leaning against the doorframe.

"Yes! No!" Cloud was confused now. "Fredrick?"

"The guy you don't want me to see, obviously," Zack said calmly. Cloud noticed now, though, that Zack looked a little hurt.

"You think I didn't notice you acting strange?" Zack said, losing the cool voice now. He sounded concerned. "Is he hurting you or something?"

"No!" Cloud blurted. "It's-It's not like that at all!"

"Then what's it like, Cloud?" Zack asked. "I'm worried about you. You called me _crying _last night, with absolutely no explanation, and I want to know what's up."

"It's fine, Zack," Cloud said desperately. "Really."

"Smile at me for a second," Zack said suddenly. Cloud, confused, sent a half-hearted grin Zack's way.

Zack swore.

"Cloud, you're bleeding!" Cloud's face was taken in both Zack's palms. "Who did this to you? Was it that Fredrick guy?" Zack was smoldering. "He's going to _die," _he snarled.

"No!" Cloud said hurriedly. "My toothbrush just brushed a little too hard."

"Really," Zack said flatly. "You're going to sit down, and tell me everything that's going on. I'm going to stay with you today."

"The grocery store—" Cloud began.

"—can wait." Zack finished. "Who goes to the grocery store this late at night, anyway? Inside, Cloud. Let's talk about what's going on."

Cloud looked around for some form of escape, but Zack was already crowding him inside.

Well, he did have to find out eventually. Cloud winced at the thought, though. Hopefully, he wouldn't be _too _shocked.


	8. Day 8

**._._._.**

**11:11**

**A Double Digit Final Fantasy VII Fan-Fiction**

**._._._.**

**DAY EIGHT**

**CLOUD'S EIGHTH BIRTHDAY PARTY. STRIFE FAMILY AND STRIFE FAMILY'S NEIGHBOR'S YARDS. 2:00 PM.**

_While Cloud was still seven, a new teen moved into the neighborhood_—_someone who awed all the children. Sephiroth was collected, stoic, and cool; he was invited to everyone's parties, but he didn't usually go to them, unless he really, really liked the person. Even then, he usually sat in the corner the whole time, making everyone uncomfortable with his steely green gaze._

_ Zack said Sephiroth was cool, but gave him the willies. Cloud, however, idolized the older boy. To him, moody Sephiroth was already a wise adult, and Cloud idolized him profusely_—_ not in the loving, cherished way he did Zack, but more of an awed feeling._

_ Cloud couldn't really explain it, but he just really, really looked up to Sephiroth; which was why he was ecstatic when Sephiroth hung around for his birthday party, even though they were all technically "little kids"._

_ There was one thing that bothered him, though; whenever Sephiroth talked to him, he didn't look quite _at _him. It was strange; he would reply to Cloud's eager questions, hum in reply, or ruffle Cloud's head absently_—_all without ever looking at him. It made Cloud more than a little distressed; did that mean Sephiroth didn't like him? His mother didn't look at him when she was mad, or disappointed in him; did this mean that Sephiroth was disappointed in him? The thought was horrifying._

_ Even on his birthday, Sephiroth wouldn't look at him directly. He gave him congratulations looking somewhere off to the side absently, and sat in the corner the whole time again, talking to Vincent. Cloud, feeling a little hurt, made a random wish on the spot._

_ He wished that Sephiroth would look at him when he talked to him._

_ It wasn't too much to ask for, and it wasn't like making a wish like that would _hurt _him, anyways._

._._._.

Instead of combing the house like Cloud thought he would, Zack went completely mother hen on him. He fussed over how tired he looked, examined his teeth with narrowed eyes, and then pushed him down on the couch and demanded that he sleep. Cloud had hesitantly laid down, watching Zack's eyes wander the house.

"Where is Fredrick?" he finally asked, eyes narrowed.

"I'll explain," Cloud blurted. "Just stay right here." Then, tentatively added, "Please?"

So Zack had stayed right there; apparently all night.

Cloud watched him through squinted eyes, trying to keep himself looking like he was sleeping. Zack had his head tilted to the side on his chair, eyes closed. He was breathing in and out calmly, and Cloud envied how he could be so peaceful while he was sleeping.

Cloud's eyes roved behind Zack's head—

—and locked on a little figure peeking out from behind the door.

Fredrick was hanging around the kitchen door, staring calmly at Cloud. He raised a hand and waved, and then did a vague thing with one arm—probably asking if he could cook breakfast.

Cloud narrowed his eyes, shifting his head.

Fredrick didn't understand.

Cloud glanced at Zack, still sleeping soundly, and shook his head hard at Fredrick, mouthing 'no'.

Fredrick tilted his head to the side.

Cloud leaned over the couch arm, mouthing and making frantic hand movements.

"Cloud. Hey. Buddy."

Jumping an inch of his life, Cloud went tumbling to the floor. He looked up sharply, finding Zack hovering over him.

"I was awake already, but I doubt that's what you're really up to." (Cloud winced at the implied distrust there.) "What were you doing?"

Cloud glanced to the kitchen doorway. Fredrick was gone.

"A joke," he said lamely. "Ha ha."

"Ha ha. All right, then," Zack said, rolling his eyes. Reaching out a hand, he pulled Cloud to his feet. Cloud winced; he was pretty sure his bruises had bruises now.

"So then," Zack said, rubbing his hands together a little. "Where is this Fredrick guy?"

Cloud was caught in the headlights. What should he do? Zack obviously was out for blood, and he wanted some real answers. He could tell when Cloud was lying; and he got hurt, too. Cloud was stuck, just staring at Zack, trying to think of what to tell him.

In the end, he looked away, shoulders slumped.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, Zack," Cloud whispered, shuffling from foot to foot. "But now, I really want to tell you the truth."

Zack's eyebrows came together, and he let a small, concerned smile spread across his face. "Really then? All right." He rocked back on his heels. "Let's see it."

Cloud had actually wanted to _tell _Zack first, as opposed to him _seeing _it, but he supposed since everything was going to hit the fan, he might as well just throw it. He wanted to take Zack's hand, but instead he gingerly took his arm, leading him into the kitchen.

"Fredrick should be in here," he explained; but when he looked around, he blinked.

No Fredrick.

"Where?" Zack said, raising an eyebrow.

"Um…" Cloud swiveled his neck, looking around him in confusion. "He _should've _been in here…"

He wandered into the adjoining rooms; then came back, checking each of the cabinets. Which each moment, his cheeks got a little redder.

Zack was relaxing now, his hands gradually sliding into his pockets. "Okay, Cloud, I get it. Do you still have imaginary friends?"

"No!" Cloud yelped; here he was all this time trying to avoid Zack seeing anything, and now that he was actually _okay _with him seeing everything, he couldn't even find his greatest proof. (Taking off his pajamas or taking Zack up to his room, unfortunately, didn't cross his mind—or he decided was too dangerous.)

Confused, Cloud tromped back into the living room—

—and then pointed at the couch with a triumphant yell.

Sitting on the couch was Fredrick, completely clean and completely still. There was a sign or something around his neck, but otherwise, that was it. Cloud ran over, poking him—and then jumping when his teddy just listed to the side.

"Fredrick?" he said confusedly, poking him again.

Zack had come up behind him, reading over Cloud's shoulder. "Oh. _Oh." _He stared, and then slowly, a big grin worked its way onto his face. "This is Fredrick, Cloud?"

"It's not what it looks like," Cloud said, shaking Fredrick desperately.

"Of course it isn't," Zack soothed. "I know some other people who still have their childhood toys. It's no big deal."

"That's not it!" Cloud yelled, completely frustrated. "Really, it's _not!"_

Zack patted him on the shoulder. He looked relieved, which frustrated Cloud even more. "It's okay, Cloud, really. You know I never laugh at you about this stuff. God, you had me worried for a moment there."

Cloud opened his mouth to protest, and then snapped it tightly shut. Obviously, Zack was going to think what he would. The worst part was that Zack was right; this was something Cloud would do.

"He's cute," Zack observed absently, looking over the bear. "Didn't you have him when we were kids, too?"

"Yes," Cloud said sullenly.

"You took good care of him." Zack turned, grinning at Cloud. "Aww, lookit you. Wipe off that face. I already said I wouldn't tease you…unless you _want _me too."

"No," Cloud said, flushing furiously. "I don't."

"Then lighten up." Zack ruffled his hair. "One thing I _did _see when I was in your kitchen was that you're right; you do need to go to the grocery. I'll take you, if you want."

Cloud thought of protesting, but it died in his throat. He was going out anyways. If nothing was going to be happening… then it wouldn't hurt to take Zack with him.

Besides. Hadn't he been hoping for company?

"Yeah," Cloud sighed. "I'll go with you. Thanks."

He began to follow Zack, but…suspicious, he turned and looked back at the couch.

Fredrick, slowly, raised his arm and waved.

It _figured._

._._._.

Zack had brought his car instead of a motorcycle, which Cloud was eternally grateful for. The storm only affected him, it seemed, when he was completely outside; and he convinced Zack to pull right up by the grocery store, saying that he was tired. It was a down and dirty lie, and Cloud hated it; but Zack took it well enough, and zoomed off to park. It saved having to explain raining candy.

Cloud rocked back and forth on his heels, shivering a little. His pajama pants stuck out from underneath his thick coat, meaning that his topside was nice and toasty, but he was freezing his stupid butt off in the pajamas. Mournfully, Cloud wondered why he didn't think to bundle up his legs. It seemed like he was always freezing when he went out with Zack.

"Cloud."

Cloud jumped, spinning around, and then laughed a little nervously. "Sephiroth! How long have you been standing there?"

Half of Sephiroth's face was obscured by an uncharacteristic scarf, leaving him _nearly _as stoic as ever. His eyes were a little too wide in his face, however, and were completely fixated on Cloud's face. Cloud, giving a nervous giggle, shifted his face downwards. Sephiroth's eyes followed. Cloud tilted his chin up and away, and Sephiroth's eyes followed that too. Then Cloud turned his head a whole couple degrees to nervously see what was taking Zack, and Sephiroth actually leaned in disturbingly closer—all to keep his eyes on Cloud's face.

Cloud felt vaguely uneasy. Before, when he was younger, he used to wonder what was up with Sephiroth, because he would _never _look at his face; but now that the man was so completely obsessed with his face, it was decidedly awkward.

"I have been searching for you…Cloud," Sephiroth said haltingly, almost hesitating. Well, that wasn't right. Sephiroth didn't hesitate. Cloud cracked a nervous smile, taking a step backwards. Just because Sephiroth was a friend, didn't mean that he had to be really close to him when he was having a nervous breakdown. It didn't help that Cloud tended to babble—

"I'm sorry, Sephiroth," Cloud said. "I stayed home all this week. Have you been searching for me all week?" (Cloud sorely wished that he _hadn't _been. How creepy would that be?)

Sephiroth began to say something, and then snapped his mouth shut, looking confused. "Not all week…just since…this morning." He frowned, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

"R-Right," Cloud said. As Sephiroth moved even closer, Cloud desperately tried to keep some room between them, still rambling on, until unexpectedly, he tripped. Gasping in surprise, Cloud stopped talking…

…and Sephiroth stopped looking at him. He shook his head, looking confused. Experimentally, Cloud began talking again.

"Blah blah blah."

Sephiroth's eyes swiveled in on his face. Cloud fell silent, and his eyes immediately shifted again.

…when had he made this wish? Some of the other ones made sense, but this one…this one was just weird, and he couldn't remember it at all.

"Sephiroth? Hey, I see you found Cloud."

Zack. Cloud quickly hid behind him, being very careful not to say anything.

"You feeling okay, Sephiroth? You look a little strange." Zack frowned a little.

"No," Sephiroth said faintly, glancing at Cloud, "I'm fine."

"That's good," Zack said cheerily. "We'll just be on our way, then."

Cloud shuffled behind Zack through the automated doors. Sephiroth followed them.

"He's following us," Cloud said, just under his breath.

"Don't look them in the eye, it makes them angry," Zack murmured back.

._._._.

Cloud was steadily getting more and more uncomfortable. Sephiroth had trailed them through the store like a silver ghost, hovering behind them in the aisles, examining the cans that they put down, and every once in a while, giving a quiet opinion on what they should buy.

And every time Cloud so much as _sneezed, _Sephiroth's eyes would immediately snap to his face and brighten, as if he was waiting for him to say something important.

Cloud eventually pretty much plastered himself against Zack's side, trying to avoid looking at Sephiroth; but even when Sephiroth came out of the strange trance that happened every time Cloud made a sound, he _still _followed them insistently everywhere.

That was it. Cloud was being punished for following _Sephiroth _everywhere when he was a kid.

Then, when they reached the fresh produce section, everything really went south.

"You forgot the eggs," Zack pointed out. (Cloud flushed—that sounded way too much like something they said in a relationship.) "I'll go back and get them, okay? You stay here."

Cloud shrugged, hoping Sephiroth would follow Zack.

He didn't.

Instead, Sephiroth fixated himself on staring intently at Cloud as he nervously hummed to himself, picking out apples. Frayed, and not really alert to his surroundings, Cloud turned—

—and smashed into someone.

Apples scattered in every which direction, crashing to the floor and rolling under the shopping cart. Cloud yelped, already looking up to apologize.

Looking down on him ominously was Tifa. Her arms were crossed, hip cocked, and pure glee glinted in her eyes.

Cloud froze.

"Tifa," Sephiroth greeted amicably from behind Cloud's head. Cloud couldn't miss the note of disapproval in his voice.

Tifa's eyes flicked over Sephiroth, crinkling her nose in disgust. "Sephiroth," she greeted. Then, she resumed staring down at Cloud. "Didn't I tell you that you wouldn't be able to hide in your house forever?" she hissed.

Cloud ducked and ran.

If he could reach the dairy section, he could find Zack. Zack would protect him, he was _sure_—

—but someone was grabbing him, and Cloud squealed as he was swept right off the floor, brought nose to nose with a familiar face.

A face, eyes wide and vacant, was nose-to-nose with him. Cloud couldn't exactly remember where he'd seen this guy before, but all he knew was that Tifa was probably coming up fast behind him.

"Please put me down, sir," Cloud pleaded. "I need to be somewhere."

"Nnngh," the man said.

Cloud blinked.

The man turned, Cloud still tightly in his grip, and started heading _back _towards Tifa.

"No no no!" Cloud wailed, grabbing at the man's hands. "I need to get _away _from her!"

"Face it, Cloud!" Tifa said. She was standing calmly there, arms crossed, looking unbelievably smug. "More people than you know want you to be _my _lawfully wedded husband."

Cloud went still, staring wide-eyed behind Tifa; a small group of people had banded behind her, _all _blank-eyed.

She had zombies behind her, and they were all willing to have Cloud marry Tifa.

Cloud needed to get out of here.

Twisting in the man's grip, Cloud kicked out; it had no effect, but he did manage to loosen the guy's grip. Someone else lunged for him, but Cloud was already up and running for the door.

Tifa and her army were in hot pursuit, Tifa screeching something—Cloud couldn't tell what it was, but he knew it probably had something to do with how he couldn't run forever. He sped up, ducking around and under shelves and carts, moving for the door.

Someone grabbed his arm, and Cloud shrieked as he was spun to face the person.

It was Zack.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "I said I was just getting the eggs."

"T-Tifa," Cloud sobbed out. "Tifa wants to get me."

"Aw, Cloud, stoppit. You know Tifa would never do anything to hurt you. Here, I'll walk with you."

"No!" Cloud yelled, twisting in Zack's grip. "I'm not going to her! You can't make me! I don't _wanna _marry Tifa!"

Zack gave him an odd look. "Who said anything about marrying her?"

Tifa came barreling around the corner. Cloud squeezed his eyes shut a moment. This was going to hurt Zack's feelings for sure.

He jerked his arm away. Sure enough, Zack looked shocked—and hurt.

"I'll explain," Cloud blurted, "I _promise _I'll explain later. I just—I need to—"

"Get back here, Cloud Strife!" Tifa yelled behind him.

Cloud sprinted for the exit. He barreled through the door, hit the parking lot, and started running.

Immediately, it started to rain, but Cloud didn't care; it would, hopefully, slow his pursuers down. Cloud ended up in a alleyway, sheltered from the candy, where he slumped against the wall. He felt absolutely horrible, and things were getting way out of hand.

He should've just stayed home.

Cloud turned his head to the side with a sigh, and shrieked. Sephiroth was an inch away from his face, staring at him curiously.

"Bad day?" he inquired, as if it was perfectly normal that he'd managed to follow Cloud's frantic run.

Cloud slid to the ground, buried his face in his coat sleeve, and tried, desperately, to keep from screaming.


	9. Day 9

**._._._.**

**11:11**

**A Double Digit Final Fantasy VII Fan-Fiction**

**._._._.**

**DAY NINE**

**CLOUD'S NINTH BIRTHDAY PARTY. STRIFE FAMILY BACKYARD. 4:00 PM.**

_ Cloud may have been small, and he might have been easy to be bullied, but that didn't mean that he had to just stand there and take it. _

_ And especially not at his own birthday party._

_ "I said lemme go!" Cloud said, struggling under the headlock. Reno the annoying_—_as Cloud had hatefully dubbed him_—_and his stupid big friend Rude had him in a headlock. Reno kept on touching Cloud's spikes, and laughing whenever Cloud screamed in outrage, kicking out at him._

_ "What's seriously _up _with your hair, yo? Get it, Rude? _Up?" _Reno thought this was hilarious. Rude didn't say anything, but Cloud knew he was probably laughing. Enraged, Cloud kicked backwards into Rude's shin, surprising him enough that Rude loosened his grip._

_ Cloud jumped on Reno like a gremlin, screeching and shrieking and putting everything he could. Reno, obviously amused, let him get in a few punches before he started rolling with him, still spitting out insults._

_ "Your hair seriously looks like a chocobo's backside, yo. You should really try to get it flat."_

_ A punch that didn't reach Reno's mouth to shut him up._

_ "Or can't you get it flat?"_

_ "Just shut up!" Cloud shrieked. "Just shut up, you_—_you _stupid _butthead_—"

"Cloud!"

Now _the adults decided to arrive, pulling him off of Reno and back. Cloud clawed at him, howling, while Reno continued acting perfectly calm and composed, as usual._

_ "You'll see!" Cloud spat at him, still lunging forward. "I wish…I wish that someday, you'll get bullied, just the way I do!"_

_ Reno rolled his eyes, grinning. His teeth were infuriatingly white. "Dream on, Cloud."_

._._._.

Cloud was really going out on a limb.

Literally.

The night before, Cloud had made up his mind, right there, against the wall, to not burst into tears one more time. Oh, no. Cloud would be tough now. He wasn't tough at all, sure, but he could be stubborn.

He had sniffled once into his coat sleeve, and then got up and set out for the street. Naturally, Sephiroth followed him, so Cloud had decided to put him to work. Sephiroth had managed to spirit him an umbrella—staring at him the entire time—and even walked along with him amicably.

"What are you going to do now?" Sephiroth had asked—completely unfazed by the soggy Chick-O-Sticks bouncing off the umbrella.

Cloud had squinched up his mouth in a way that he thought looked tough, but actually was rather cute, in a disturbing, 'baby is about to burp' way.

"I'm going to break into Tifa's house," he said determinedly.

And so he did.

The way Cloud had figured it, and still believed, was that while Tifa was running willy-nilly all over the city, hunting for him, her house would be the one place she'd _never _expect Cloud to be. Heck, if Cloud could help it, _he_ didn't even want to go there.

But Cloud was brave now…sort of. And if it meant a little peace and time to think, he was totally fine with it.

Sephiroth had watched him through the window, where Cloud had carefully waved at him—not saying anything—and then watched Sephiroth walk away.

This was kind of perverted in a way…but Cloud kept convincing himself that it was alright. After all, he was gay; it wasn't like he was trying to steal something intimate of hers, or something. Besides—he shuddered—that was just so _gross._

Cloud had _stupidly _thought that the curse wouldn't reach into Tifa's house...but it did. Cloud had no sooner than laid down that he felt the bed, already made underneath him, painstaking straighten out the wrinkles beneath him.

The clock ticked away.

Something that looked like one of Tifa's makeup brushes went skittering across the floor, painstakingly slowly.

Breathe in slowly, breathe out slowly.

Tifa's dresser drawers slid almost silently open, but the brushes that jumped obediently in didn't make as much an effort. The drawer apparently just said, 'heck with it all!' and slammed shut.

Cloud twitched.

Tifa's digital clock on her stand slooooowwwwwllly adjusted itself to a perfect, one-hundred-eighty degree angle—

"WILL YOU SHUT UP?" Cloud shrieked, shooting straight up in bed. "WOULD YOU JUST LET ME SLEEP?"

It was pretty quiet after that.

._._._.

The next morning, Cloud quietly got up and waited for the room to straighten itself out, before he ducked out the window and promptly discovered that while it wasn't really that hard to get _up _a tree, it was pretty hard to get _down _the tree.

Which was why he was out on a branch, har har har.

Cloud clung to the branch, inching forward and holding on to the fraying edges of his bravery. He hadn't quite noticed it before, but the ground was really, really a long ways down. And Cloud, despite his name, didn't float.

He inched slowly towards the middle of the trunk, hoping to his lucky stars that he wouldn't fall.

He didn't.

Instead, he slid safely to the ground, where he sighed in relief. His hands hurt a little now, but at least he was safe.

"Yo, Cloud, is that _you?"_

Cloud froze, turning. Reno was standing there, hands in his pockets, looking at him curiously, before a wolfish grin spread across his face.

"You and _Tifa, _eh? That's _weird_, yo. I always thought you swung the other way, yo, didn't I, Rude?"

Rude had been busy blending in with the side of the house, but now he nodded his head, staring at Cloud. Cloud turned red as a beet.

"Ew. No. That's _never _happening."

Reno grinned. "Maybe not yet, but maybe you're not completely as gay as I thought. This needs a little investigation, don't it, Rude?"

A nod of the head. Cloud mentally groaned. He couldn't get pestered right now; he just wanted to get home before Tifa found him. Plus, he had to explain the entire situation to Zack, why he'd run out on him and everything.

"Listen guys," Cloud began, backing up, "I really don't want to fool around right now."

Reno rolled his eyes. "It'll be nothing. Just a little kiss and tell, eh?"

Cloud wrinkled up his nose. He wanted to kiss Reno as much as he wanted to kiss Tifa; even if Reno was being joking around. He tried to duck to the side, but Rude grabbed his arms, pinning them high up his back.

Reno grinned at Cloud. When they were younger, he'd been really tall, but now, he was completely nose to nose with Cloud. "Pucker up, princess," he cooed, and leaned forward.

Cloud was _not _going to enjoy this.

Suddenly, though, Reno jerked backwards, eyes wide.

"What's wrong," Rude asked, more a statement than a question.

"I…I dunno…my pants just hiked up or something…" Reno said absently, turning around. A second later, and he cried out in distress again. Rude uncertainly loosened his grip on Cloud, watching Reno.

Then, Reno flew _right _up in the air.

Cloud did not shriek. He _didn't._

At least not until Rude went flying up too. _Then _he let it all out.

Reno's underwear had been jerked out of his pants, and was now over the branch of the tree in a serious wedgie. Rude was right there with them. Reno was howling in pain, while Rude looked vaguely surprised.

"Cloud Strife!" Reno screamed. "I know you did this!"

Cloud blinked. "I didn't do anything!"

"Yeah right!" Reno yelled down. "You were always into voodoo and sorcery and all that crap! Now get me down!"

"Um!" Cloud swiveled his head. "D-Don't worry," he said, backing away. "I'll get someone to come and help you! I promise. J-Just hang in tight!"

"Cloud!" Reno's voice had risen in pitch. "Don't just leave us here like this, you dirty little…"

Cloud turned and ran. He didn't stop until he got home.


	10. Day 10

**._._._.**

**11:11**

**A Double Digit Final Fantasy VII Fan-Fiction**

**._._._.**

**DAY TEN**

**CLOUD'S TENTH BIRTHDAY. CLOUD'S BEDROOM. 8:00 AM.**

_Birthdays were sort of like Christmas for Cloud. He woke up early, came down the stairs, and waited for something special to happen. It never seemed like anything did, though, which often sorely disappointed him. This birthday, Cloud was a little calmer about the whole thing; he understood that some special things would probably happen, but not as many as he'd like. _

_Cloud crept quietly down the stairs; the evidence of the impending birthday party lined the stairs, streamers hanging from the ceiling. His mother was asleep on the couch, probably ready for Cloud to wake up later on for his party._

_Cloud, very gently, pecked the top of her head and kept going._

_The kitchen was aglow with yellow light, as Cloud peeked around the corner, even though the sky was pretty light out. His father was sitting at the table, newspaper spread in his lap, frowning down at the news. He didn't look up_ — _not once_—_as Cloud snuck into the room._

"_Good morning," Cloud greeted him. _

_His father glanced up from over the top of his glasses briefly, scanning him without really seeing him, before his eyes snapped back to the page. He grumbled something in return, flipping the page. _

_Cloud could remember being younger, and he was pretty sure that his dad had given him a lot more attention than he did now; he would talk with him, stop and ask questions, or just listen all the way through. Even though he _knew _it wasn't true that his father didn't pay attention to him at _all…_he did._

_Just not as often as Cloud would like._

_At that moment, quietly reaching for the cereal, Cloud wished that his father would pay more attention to him, as much as he could._

_Later on, his father kissed him on top of the head, ten birthday kisses for getting older, and Cloud felt a little bit better._

_But not enough to take back the wish that night._

._._._.

Any moment now, Cloud thought, Zack would knock on the door, and he would ask for explanations. Cloud would greet him immediately and latch on to him and tell him _everything. _No weird wayward wishes would get in his ways. _Oh, _Zack would say, _Why didn't you tell me this earlier, Cloud? _But then he wouldn't get mad; he'd just smile at Cloud, and they would stay together, and the entire thing would work itself out perfectly.

In Cloud's dreams.

Cloud had ended up on his own couch…somehow. Fredrick was _somewhere_ inside the house, but Cloud was kind of too tired to move and look for him. He _had _left a message for Tifa (on his cell-phone, so she wouldn't guess that he was home) telling her to get help for Reno and Rude, and he hoped she'd helped. After all, _he _wasn't going all the way back there to help them out.

Cloud winced. Quite a few people had bullied him when he was younger; he hoped the effects of the wish were just when he was nearby them.

His home phone rang, and Cloud idly picked up.

"Zack?"

"Cloud," a voice hissed. "I'm going to _murder _you. Do you know how _hard_ it is for me to sit down right now?"

"Bye Reno," Cloud said dully, hanging up.

_Brrring._

"Hello?"

"Strife." This was a different voice; burning cold. Cloud's eyes widened. He _hoped _this wasn't who he thought this was.

"I know you're still there," Genesis continued. "I think you'd like to know that I'm getting my 'just desserts' for teasing you when you were younger. Would you like to know _how?"_

"Yes, sir."

"There is a _baseball bat _outside of my room," Genesis hissed. "Every time I come out of my room, it swings at me. Do you know how hard it's getting to fend it off?"

"How do you know that it's _me?" _Cloud asked desperately.

"You know how many poems there are about wronged people taking revenge?" Genesis asked. "Besides. You were always eccentric, and possibly dabbling in the Dark Arts."

Cloud decided not to retaliate there, unless he brought up _Genesis' _eccentricity.

"But Genesis," Cloud said, gulping, "That's what _you _used to do to _me."_

There was a heavy, static silence.

"You're dead, Strife," Genesis said, and then the dial tone began droning happily in Cloud's ear.

This was a _really _good time to call Zack, Cloud decided, fingers already hovering over the buttons on his phone. His best friend would quickly help him out, he was sure…

Another call buzzed through, and Cloud groaned. Hopefully, this one wouldn't be someone else who had bullied him when he was younger.

It wasn't.

"Hello?" Cloud said, a little meekly this time.

"Pft blah. Blah blah _ptah."_

Cloud barely suppressed a groan; his dad. "Hi Dad," Cloud said. "Listen, the line's breaking up…"

Then Cloud got a completely awesome idea.

"Fredrick!" he called out.

Fredrick's head slowly rose from behind the couch arm. Cloud didn't ask why, but instead held out the phone. "It's my dad," he whispered. "Can you tell what he's saying?"

Sullenly— for whatever reason, Cloud couldn't guess—Fredrick took the phone and listened for a few, long moments.

"Master Cloud's father is apologizing for every moment that he has ever ignored you in your life," Fredrick reported. "He says that from now on, he will pay attention to you." Fredrick listened for a few moments. "He suggests a fishing trip, or visiting Midgar's Migney World, just the two of you."

"I can't do that right now!" Cloud whispered back. He leaned closer to the phone, saying loudly, "Um, Dad? I can't do that right now. Can I make plans with you later?"

Another burbling.

"Your father says that he can't wait. He wants to spend time with you."

"Really?" Cloud swallowed hard. Now this was hard. His Dad was always a little too busy to spend time with him; this was a once in a lifetime thing. "Dad, I really want to do this too. I _promise _I'll do it with you later. But it's just not the proper time right now."

Fredrick listened for a moment, and then handed the phone back to Cloud. Confused, Cloud put the phone to his ear, but could only hear the dial tone.

"He hung up? What'd he say?"

"Master Cloud's father said that he is on his way immediately to pick you up," Fredrick responded.

"What? Why?"

"Apparently, Master Cloud's father has decided that he wants to take his son along with him on an adventure, just the two of them."

Okay, Cloud admitted to himself that that sounded nice. But not at the moment. How would he explain the pajamas and raining candy at _Migney World_?

His cell-phone buzzed, and Cloud absently opened it up. It was a text from his father that he immediately handed over to Fredrick.

Fredrick read like a text-to-speech machine, and Cloud winced, but continued listening. "'Good job on winning your Little League game. I am very proud of you.'"

Cloud was confused. "That was when I was six."

The phone buzzed again, and then again. Fredrick continued reading. "'You did so well in school this semester. I'm so proud to have a son like you.' 'Great job on your part in the play. Trees play very important roles.'"

Cloud was, to say the least, very impressed and touched. He had the feeling that this was the result of a wish, because it was a little too…over the top. But still…even without the wish's influence, his father had actually remembered all of those little things. And he'd been _happy._

Cloud was on cloud nine.

"He really did remember, Fredrick," he said happily.

"Hmph," said Fredrick.

Cloud sighed, figuring out what the problem probably was. "I'm sorry I didn't bring back any eggs. I was just getting tired of them."

Fredrick immediately perked up. "Not to worry, Master Cloud. I'm sure we can find another way of fixing your breakfast."

"I'm sure you can too," Cloud said, a little reluctantly. He glanced out the window, frowning; it was already getting chillier, and he needed to bring his potted plants in from the porch. While he was at it, he could call Zack.

Picking up his cell-phone and wincing when it kept buzzing continually, Cloud dialed Zack's number, pinning it between his ear and shoulder as he went out the door.

Zack's answering machine picked up. Cloud sighed, waiting for it to finish as he hefted his flowerpot, moving towards the door.

"Zack, it's Cloud," he said. "I'm sorry for running out at the store, and I'm trying to reach you. I guess you're not…" he frowned, turning his mouth away from the phone. "Fredrick, can you open the door a little wider?"

Fredrick shuffled over and obliged, opening the door wider. Cloud paused, hiking up his flowerpot again and moving forward.

"Please call me back, okay?" Cloud said. He put the flowerpot down, ready to click the button to end the call, when someone shoved him from behind.

"Wha—" Cloud began, but he didn't get to finish as something hard and heavy smacked him in the back of his head. Cloud had never been knocked out before—knocked around, yes, but not _knocked out. _He was pretty sure that _this _was what being conked out felt like, though, when black spots began suddenly clouding his vision. He stumbled, falling forward, but someone caught him before he hit the porch.

Unfortunately, he didn't get to see _who _before he completely blacked out.

._._._.

Cloud woke up with his hands tied behind his back, head tilted back against hard wood.

His head hurt like heck.

Giving a pained whimper, Cloud squeezed his eyes shut, and then opened them again. His splitting headache made it a little hard to process what he was seeing at first.

He was in a huge, sweeping room; soaring wooden rafters and beautiful arches. It would have been a beautiful place…if it hadn't been crumbling to pieces. The right side of the wall was completely broken apart, showing electric blue sky and brown grass outside. Right in front of him, there was a partially broken stained glass panel, beautiful and sad in its destruction.

Cloud swiveled his head, confused. If he was right, he was in a broken, rundown church. It was a sad sight, somewhere quiet where someone could come and sit…but why was he here?

It was then that Cloud remembered about his tied wrists. Confused, Cloud tugged at them, and then a little harder, but it was tied hard. Then he realized that he was on a chair, and another thick rope was wrapped around his waist. Getting a little panicked, Cloud tried to get up, and discovered that he couldn't move at all. He was about to scream—

"Well. This is more interesting than I thought."

Cloud snapped his mouth shut, swiveling and looking in the direction of the voice. On his right side, most of the pews were intact, though a few were badly falling apart. Sprawled over one of the church pews was Genesis, looking appropriately disrespectful wearing his bright red leather and sacrilegious smirk. If Cloud could shuffle his chair over a few paces, he could touch Genesis. Considering if he could _move, _which he _couldn't._

"I never thought you were for Tifa," Genesis observed amusedly, with none of the rage Cloud had heard over the phone. He must have gotten rid of the baseball bat…he _was _sitting uncomfortably, though. Cloud wondered if he was having a wedgie; what a horrifying thought to associate with _Genesis._

Wait.

"I don't like Tifa in that way," Cloud whispered shakily.

Genesis raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you marrying her?"

Oh no.

Suddenly, this all made sense. Church, being tied to a chair…in horror, Cloud's eyes shot to his lap, but he was relieved upon finding that he was still wearing his pajamas. It wasn't very comforting, still.

"I don't want to do this, Genesis!" he yelped, rocking his chair back and forth. "I-I don't _want _to marry Tifa!"

"Oh. That explains the chair, then." Genesis stretched lazily. "I thought it was just some sort of kinky thing."

"Y-You've got to help me," Cloud begged. "I can't do this, I just need one more day. I can't get married to her!" When Genesis just stared at him, Cloud began to sniffle, his chin falling forward onto his chest. This was a hopeless situation.

Then, there was a rustle, and someone settled softly behind Cloud. Cloud's entire body tensed up, but Genesis' fingers were working on the thick rope around his waist, binding him to the chair.

"Tifa is retrieving the priest," he informed Cloud. "You should get out before—"

A door slammed open. Genesis was suddenly gone from beside him, and Cloud leapt up from the chair, ready to run…but he'd forgotten that his hands were tied. Completely set off balance, he went crashing forward to the floor.

Someone rolled him over, and Cloud stared dazedly up into one of Tifa's zombie army. He reached out a hand, pulling Cloud rather gently to his feet. Tifa was at his side, smiling at him waveringly.

"I was afraid you were going to miss the entire thing!" she exclaimed brightly, almost like the real Tifa. Cloud winced in pain as she tugged at his collar.

"Tifa, please," Cloud said. "I don't want to do this, and I'm pretty sure you don't want to either."

Tifa's face darkened, her fingers jerking away from his collar. "Of-Of course I want to!" she snapped. "We'll get married, and we'll have our happily ever after, just like you said when we were kids!"

"But—"

Tifa reeled back, slapping Cloud across the face. Shocked, Cloud stumbled backwards, before he looked up, eyes swimming with tears. Tifa had her hand up over her mouth, looking shaken herself, but still steadfast.

"We're getting married," she said, "And that's final."

Someone helped Cloud up, positioning him back against Tifa. Cloud's face was completely crumpled in on itself, but he didn't really care at the moment.

The priest was frog-marched in, looking rather surprised, to the front of the church, where his arms were still kept pinned behind his back. He looked, wide-eyed, at the entire scenario; Cloud, his cheek red and his eyes watery, Tifa, crazed looking, and her entire gathering of vacant eyed followers.

He cleared his throat a little uncomfortably, flipping open his book anyway. "Tpah, blah blah blah?" he began. "Pffft blah blah."

"We just want to get married," Tifa said impatiently.

The priest nodded hastily, skipping straight to the question; horribly garbled, but Cloud understood well enough.

"I do," Tifa said proudly.

Then towards Cloud: "Blah blah blah ptah?"

Cloud raised his head towards the priest, his eyes wide and beseeching.

"Please, Father," he whispered. "I'm—I'm _gay."_

The priest didn't look like he blamed him, and actually looked sorry. Tifa, however, jabbed him in the side with her elbow, hissing, "Just say 'I do' already."

"I can't!" Cloud said loudly, completely panicked. "I can't say it!"

"I swear I will _kill _you," Tifa snarled. "If you don't agree."

The priest was opening his mouth— maybe to speak in Cloud's favor, when behind them, the doors burst open.

Everyone spun around. Surprised, Cloud swiveled himself around too.

The doors of the church were now wide open. In the doorway, a black motorcycle shook, the revs echoing loudly in the church. Sitting astride it, hair in his eyes and mouth set in a grim line, was…

"Zack?" Cloud asked in disbelief.

Zack didn't stop in the doorway, though, as he gunned the engine, shooting straight down the aisle towards them. Tifa grabbed Cloud's arm, trying to pull him out of the way, but Cloud tripped and went down, sprawled out, as Tifa fell off to the side. Zack slid to a stop, not stopping the engine as he reached a hand down to Cloud.

"Grab on," he ordered.

"My hands are tied!" Cloud said, panicked; but he was surprised when Zack easily picked him up, pulling him forward. After a few moments of fiddling, his ropes fell away, and Cloud was on the back of the motorcycle, blinking and shrinking back.

"You've got to hold _on, _Cloud," Zack said. He sounded tense, and Cloud flinched, wrapping his arms around Zack's waist.

"You can't take him!" Tifa screeched. "He's supposed to marry me!"

Zack gave her a cursory glance, and then gunned the engine, speeding back towards the door. Cloud shrieked, digging his sharp chin into Zack's back; suddenly, they were out in open air, and _holy heck _that was a lot of stairs. Cloud would have been bounced right off, but in moments they hit the pavement, and away they sped.

Slowly, Cloud peeled his face off of Zack's shirt. They had turned onto the highway now, and were speeding along. Just how far did Tifa take him?

"How did you find me?" Cloud asked meekly; he could feel Zack's anger coming off him in waves.

"I heard your message," Zack said tersely, "And went to your house. Your…_teddy bear _told me what happened."

Ooh. Cloud buried his face in Zack's shirt again. "Are you mad?"

Zack was quiet. "Maybe you should ask me again when we get there."

"Where are we going?"

"My house. No running out, no hanging up, no excuses. You're going to tell me the story, Cloud; the _entire _story."

Cloud gulped. _That _was ominous.

They were silent the rest of the way.

._._._.

Cloud did tell Zack everything, all the way from the top; the wish, all the wishes coming true…reluctantly, how he didn't want Zack to get hurt, which made Zack's eyes all fiery and angry. He relayed how he'd told Aeris, and how she told him that he would have to wish again tomorrow in order for everything to go back to normal.

Finally, it was all out. Cloud squeezed Fredrick—he wasn't going to ask why Zack had brought him, but he was glad anyway.

Zack breathed out harshly. "Okay. To tell the truth, Cloud; I am mad at you. I'm _furious."_

Cloud looked away.

"How could you think that I wouldn't be able to help you? You mean you suffered, that entire time, and didn't tell me, all because you were worried about me?"

Cloud meekly nodded his head.

Zack sighed again. Then, he got up abruptly, moving towards Cloud. For a moment, Cloud panicked, thinking that maybe Zack was going to sock him; but instead, a big hand landed in his hair, tousling gently.

Cloud looked up. Zack's eyes were shining with familiar, exasperated affection.

"You've got to stop doing stuff like this," he said quietly. "You're…so dumb, Cloud. You're such a sweet, dumb kid. All because of _me, _you didn't ask me for any help." He shook his head. The next moment, he reached forward, grabbing Cloud around the middle and squeezing him close to his chest.

Cloud blinked, limp in Zack's tight hug. Zack was squeezing him almost too tightly for him to breathe, but Cloud didn't mind.

Not at all.

"Whatever happens now—even though you _told _me when all the trouble is practically over," Zack said wryly, pulling away from Cloud, "I can do it with you. You can't just hold in your troubles, kiddo."

Cloud smiled shakily at him, blushing and still reeling from the hug.

Zack smiled back at him, ruffling his hair, and then sighed. "Though that doesn't make this entire thing any less weird. Anyway!" Zack clapped his hands together, grinning. "I heard that this Fredrick of yours cooks a killer egg. Would you mind showing me, Fredrick?"

Fredrick perked up, nodding eagerly and voicing his assent. If the teddy could smile, he would be beaming.

Cloud's smile, on the other hand, dropped.

This was _not _going to end well.


	11. Day 11

_A/N: Today, at 11:11 AM, on 11/11/11, I was listening to "11:11 PM" by the All American Rejects, and eating bread that expires on 11/11/11._

_I'm also very envious of the lucky kid somewhere in the world who turns 11 today._

…_sorry. I couldn't resist. XD_

_Thank you so, so much for everyone who reviewed, favorite and alerted this story. It really meant a lot to me that so many people enjoyed this story. :D Thanks so much for still reading throughout this crazy story!_

**._._._.**

**11:11**

**A Double Digit Final Fantasy VII Fan-Fiction**

**._._._.**

**DAY ELEVEN**

**CLOUD'S ELEVENTH BIRTHDAY PARTY. NEIGHBORHOOD STREET. 3:00 PM.**

_A birthday was just another day, Cloud had realized. It was kind of nice to have some of his friends come around with him, so they could eat and splash each other and laugh together. His parents were really sweet to him, even if his dad didn't pay as much attention, and Cloud loved all of them to death. He didn't throw any tantrums, scream at anyone, and did as he was told quietly and with a smile._

_Cloud was growing up._

_Still, though life was pretty good…Cloud couldn't help but feel a little unsettled. He was getting bigger, sure, and it was coming with new feelings that he wasn't sure were good or not. His legs had started getting too long and gangly, increasingly easy to trip over, while he was suddenly thrown into an entire other perspective. When school started, the entire thing would slam into his face with sudden responsibilities and things to do…he knew it, so he wanted to make his normal time last as long as possible._

_Unfortunately, some things were interfering with that._

_Cloud wasn't sure if it was right, but…_

_Cloud sighed, shifting on his chair and pulling a half-hearted smile. Zack and the rest of his friends were playing street baseball. Reno was owning everyone else, but Zack was taking it pretty well, pulling faces and making everyone else laugh. Cloud had said he was tired, and was now shivering in his towel, just watching._

_Zack was his very best friend. Cloud had known Zack for practically forever, and they'd shared everything_—_colds, food, and arguments, as well as the most of their lives. Zack said that he'd always be there for Cloud, and Cloud believed him whole-heartedly…_

_…except that Cloud was well on the way to messing the entire thing up._

_After all, what kind of friend was a little too dreamy over Zack's every smile; was a little too jealous when he directed that smile somewhere else; felt all fluttery and girly every time Zack so much as _sneezed _in his direction? Cloud knew what was happening when he saw it, though he _knew _it was asking for trouble. He knew, now, that he was in love with Zack. But; the problem was that he was never going to love him back._

_Right then, sitting quietly and smiling wistfully at Zack, Cloud wished that Zack would, maybe, someday, just love him back._

_But, of course, that was never going to happen._

._._._.

Cloud had gotten the best sleep he'd ever gotten in the past eleven days. He almost forgot what he was going through, until he got a vague uncomfortable feeling. Squirming with a frown, Cloud cracked his eyes open.

Fredrick's face was an inch from his.

Cloud shrieked, shooting upright. Fredrick went flying off his chest and onto the floor.

"Ow," he said.

Zack doubled over in laughter, and Cloud turned to glare at him.

"That was absolutely priceless!" he wheezed. "You should've seen the look on your face!"

As much as Cloud liked having human company—Fredrick was welcome, but it was comforting to have a real person to talk to—he didn't particularly like having them both team up on him together.

Zack leaned over him, grinning, before his face became serious. "It's around ten fifty or so, buddy. You wanna try rewishing now?"

All of Cloud's irritation quickly melted away, and he went completely serious as well. "Okay," he said, swinging his legs over the side of the couch. The entire thing felt déjà vu with how Zack had been sprawled over a chair, and he'd been sprawled all over the couch. Cloud rubbed his eyes, sighing. His pajamas were starting to reek again. He hoped this worked.

Zack slipped off his watch, handing it over to Cloud. Cloud took it with a deep breath, before he froze, looking over at Fredrick. Fredrick looked patiently up at him.

"Fredrick, you wanna go get me some water?" Cloud asked, his throat closing up.

"Of course, Master Cloud," Fredrick said, "I am here for you." So saying, he waddled off in search of the kitchen.

Cloud smiled sadly up at Zack, who nodded understandingly, and then looked back down at the watch. The numbers had just changed to 11:11, and Cloud took a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut.

"I wish all of my wishes would be taken back," he declared.

There was complete silence. Nothing spectacular sounded like it was happening; the clock was still ticking, and Cloud could hear his own heavy breathing. Nothing else.

He gingerly opened one eye, looking at Zack, who was looking around with a frown.

"Did…it work?" Cloud asked uncertainly.

Zack shrugged. "I don't know. Do you feel any different?"

His stomach sinking at what he might— or might not— find, Cloud got to his feet, wobbling uncertainly to the kitchen. He found Fredrick there, sprawled over the floor, and for a moment panicked. But then, his face slowly peeled up from the floor, dripping with water.

"I am sorry, Master Cloud," his teddy said monotonously. "I tripped."

Cloud let out a sigh of relief, scooping his bear up, even though his insides felt like Jello. If nothing was going back to normal—at least not Fredrick—then what was he doing wrong?

._._._.

Aeris, as usual, had a solution.

"It's simple," her voice warbled through the phone. Cloud could hear something clicking in the background. "You said that you wished at 11:11 at _night, _right? Not morning. If you wished at 11:11 at night in Zack's house, though, it still wouldn't work. You probably have to replicate _everything. _You have to go and wish at the wishing well, at 11:11, using a nickel."

Cloud nodded, and then quickly voiced a 'yes' when he realized that she couldn't see him. "Are you…sure that'll work?" he whispered, clutching the phone closer.

Aeris hummed. "I'm…sort of sure. Around eighty percent sure."

Cloud swallowed. Twenty percent was still a rather large chunk, so it wasn't actually that comforting to him. Sport teams with the odds against them suddenly turned out on top. What if the same thing happened with him wishing?

"Is something bothering you, Cloud?" Aeris asked softly. "You seem a little worried today."

Cloud took in a shaky breath, hastily shaking his head. "I just feel a little sick today. That's it." He glanced over at Zack, who raised an eyebrow, and shook his head. "Yeah. I'll get over it, Aeris."

"All right. Don't worry, I'll be coming later," Aeris assured him, sounding worried herself now. "You have the entire day; try to relax a bit."

"I'll try," Cloud murmured, and ended the call.

"You sure you're okay, buddy?" Zack asked, leading the way back into the living room.

Cloud just shrugged, giving him a half-hearted smile. "I'm just a little tired still, that's it." There was something he was forgetting. All of the wishes so far he'd forgotten, yes, but this one was _really _bugging him, and he couldn't put his finger on _why._

He almost asked for the phone back so he could call Aeris, but Zack was already dialing a number, so he snapped his mouth shut, flopping back onto the couch and waiting.

Whoever was on the other side picked up, and Zack began talking amicably, though he seemed slightly agitated. Cloud didn't really pay that much attention, lost in his own thoughts. Zack wandered into the kitchen, and he sunk into the cushions, thinking. When Zack's hand fell on his shoulder, Cloud jumped, and then giggled in embarrassment.

"I was just checking up with Genesis," Zack said.

Oh. Right. Cloud hadn't even thought about him; he'd just thought that Genesis had left after Tifa had burst in.

"Oh, don't worry, he's fine," Zack said, rolling his eyes. "He was watching Tifa after we left the church. He says that pretty much, she's just sulking, but she might try again later. He also sends you 'luck in finding the right guy', whatever that means."

Cloud, of course, knew exactly what that meant, and he flushed.

"Anyways, we've got some time to kill," Zack declared, "So let's make the most of it."

Cloud opened his mouth to respond, when his eyes suddenly focused outside of the window. He could clearly see Sephiroth's face pressed against the window through the thin blinds, and he sighed.

"Actually, I think I'll go and take a shower. I feel kind of gritty."

Zack looked between him and the window, jumping a little at seeing Sephiroth there, and sighed, getting up. "Go ahead. I'll let Sephiroth inside."

._._._.

Cloud quickly discovered that it wasn't as easy to just 'take a shower' as he thought. The moment he got into the bathroom and took off his pajamas, they slithered underneath the door. A toothbrush—new, thankfully—immediately leapt at him with a liberal amount of toothpaste. Cloud managed, finally, to get under the cold spray, shivering and foaming toothpaste the entire time. When he got out, a pair of Zack's pajamas came under the door. He managed to keep them away long enough to dry himself off, before, tripping over the hem, he came down the stairs.

Sephiroth, wide-eyed, watched him come down the steps and all the way into the kitchen. Cloud managed to spit out some of the toothpaste in the sink, washing it down as his toothbrush continued brushing furiously. All he felt was tired; he wanted this entire thing to be over, but it just seemed like it was getting worse.

"Are you all right?" Zack asked. Cloud jumped; he hadn't even noticed Zack behind him. He turned, giving him a wan smile.

"I just have to wait until 11:11," he whispered, "And everything will be fine. It's just getting a little…extreme right now."

Zack smiled at him, though worriedly. "Don't worry. I'm sure it won't be that long."

._._._.

It was long, though. Cloud found his cell-phone—or more accurately, Fredrick had brought it with him—and absently checked his messages. There were too many to open from his father, who still claimed that he was on his way. Considering that his parents lived way out in the city, he would have to get past Cloud's mom before he actually came, which comforted Cloud a little. After that, there were a whole bunch of threatening texts from Tifa, saying that she knew where he was, and everything like that. Cloud kind of became numb to it after a while.

A niggling worry had finally wiggled its way into existence. Eleven years old wasn't _that _far away. Cloud vaguely remembered that birthday; Zack and the others playing street baseball, and him shivering in his towel and bathing suit. The wish had gradually come back.

That was what was worrying—no, terrifying Cloud.

If he had wished that Zack would love him, which meant that Zack would become just another wish coming true, in a horrible way. He'd go over the top, and the worst part was that Cloud would suck up every moment of it—even if it wasn't true.

Cloud curled up miserably. Usually, it seemed like the wishes came true right away, but if this one had come true, it was sure taking its time. He was glad, too; but just the same, he distanced himself from Zack, just in case. He didn't want any mistakes.

All his wishes seemed to be over the top today, maybe because he was going to wish them all away, and if he could avoid a falsely lovesick Zack, he would be okay with it.

Sort of.

Cloud couldn't coax the toothbrush out of his mouth, so he did everything around it. He didn't eat, and ended up staring wide-eyed at the television. Zack seemed kind of tense, too; he kept walking back and forth, asking Sephiroth—still sitting there—if he needed anything.

It was a long day.

Finally, at around ten o' clock at night, Aeris called.

"I'm running late," she said, sounding breathless and worried. "Tell Zack that he can take you to the park, but remember; you have to wish at _exactly _11:11. Not a moment before or after. I don't know what'll happen."

Cloud swallowed, holding the phone close as he nodded. He explained about the overboard wishes, and Aeris hummed in concern.

"Ask Zack to take you right away," she finally said. "I don't think that's good."

It was moments after Cloud hung up with her that Tifa began pounding on the door.

Heads pressed together, Zack and Cloud peered through the blinds, with Sephiroth hovering over their shoulders. Tifa her minions were on the front porch, looking appropriately out for blood.

"I know you're in there, Cloud!" Tifa yelled out. "I saw you jumping on Zack's motorcycle! I'm not stupid!"

"No she isn't, yo!" called Reno. Cloud made a face. The traitor had quickly gone on Tifa's side. Cloud didn't really feel as sorry for the unexpected wedgie as he did before.

"You won't be able to get out!" Tifa taunted. "We'll be waiting for you!"

Zack moved away from the window over to the couch. "We'll wait until ten forty, and then we go," he said, handing an extra jacket to Cloud and shrugging on his own. Sephiroth watched them curiously, probably not knowing completely what was going on, but he tentatively volunteered, "I will make sure they don't break in."

Zack smiled at him, taking Cloud's arm and leading him to the back of the house. "Thanks, man. You're a lifesaver."

._._._.

Cloud swallowed, clinging to Zack's arm in turn as they moved towards the darkened back door. Something latched onto his leg, and he jumped; but it was just Fredrick, staring up at him. Anticipating why he was there, Cloud picked him up and hugged him with his free arm.

Zack quietly opened the door, scanning the yard, and then pulling Cloud out after him. Cloud had forgotten about the candy rainfall, and with all the fury of a thunderstorm, they were suddenly pounded with candied nuts.

Cries went up from the front lawn, and Zack sprinted, dragging Cloud behind him. He leapt onto the motorcycle, giving Cloud time to jump on behind him, and took off, zooming down the street. The park was a fifteen minute walk, but on Zack's motorcycle—probably breaking a few laws—they made it in five. They pulled up, and Zack tugged Cloud off the motorcycle, taking him by the hand and dragging him through the park.

"Do you remember where it is?" Cloud asked, a little breathless. Zack was holding his hand, and even though this wasn't the situation to gush over it…_Zack was holding his hand._

Zack beamed at him, red in the face. "I'm Zack Fair. I never forget."

Cloud flushed. Cloud Strifes never forgot either, and Zack pulling him through the park was very reminiscent of the last time they'd been here.

They reached the well, and Cloud leaned over, looking down into it. It was deep, dark, and gave him a bad feeling, as usual; except, far off, he could see a fierce glow of green down in the very depths. It gave him the chills.

"I need a nickel," Cloud said, rummaging through his pockets. He came up short, while Zack pulled out a quarter and a dime. Cloud was about to panic, but he'd forgotten about Fredrick, who held up a nickel to him. Cloud smiled appreciatively, taking the nickel in one hand, and then Zack's watch in the other.

11:05.

His toothbrush still dangling precariously out of his mouth, Cloud puffed out his cheeks, tapping his foot nervously as he wondered if this would go well or not. What if nothing came true? What if it all stayed the same? _Then _what would happen?

Cloud jumped as, suddenly, he felt a soft touch on his cheek. Whirling, he came face to face with Zack. Zack's cheeks were pink from the exhilaration, and he had a strange, nervous smile on his face. His eyes were warmer than usual.

"Cloud…" Zack swallowed. "I've got to tell you something." He laughed, turning his head away a little. "I've been kind of putting it off, but…if this all turns around and we maybe forget, or something, I wouldn't have messed anything up."

Cloud's stomach dropped straight to his shoes. Oh no.

Zack looked Cloud straight in the eyes, smiling softly. "I…I think I'm in love with you, Cloud."

Oh no no no. This couldn't be happening at all. Cloud shook his head sharply, not believing it, but Zack caught his cheeks in both hands, nose to nose with Cloud now. Cloud froze, and Zack leaned in.

It was raining gumballs, multicolored gumballs, from a cloud directly over Cloud's head, which was actually pretty. Cloud's pajamas were flopping off of him. His toothbrush was poking out of the side of his mouth, and his mouth was full of toothpaste. And now, to top it all off, Zack was kissing him.

It was, needless to say, a very weird first kiss. But that didn't change the fact that it was _Zack, _and Cloud had been in love with him for so long, and…and…

Cloud moved desperately closer, pressing himself entirely into Zack's chest and hugging him around the middle. He squinched up his lips and his eyes and kissed back.

Then, he shoved Zack away, backing away.

Zack looked confused, stumbling a little, and then moving towards Cloud. "Cloud…?"

"Don't come near me!" Cloud said, stumbling backwards himself.

"What?"

"You don't mean it," Cloud said, his eyes tearing up now. "You don't mean any of it. It's just another wish, isn't it?"

Zack opened his mouth to respond, but Cloud beat him to it. "I love you!" he blurted. "I've loved you for forever. But you're not like that, and this is a silly, silly wish." He swallowed, murmuring, "I'm sorry I kissed you back, Zack."

Then, he went over, leaning over the well. He clutched Fredrick to his chest, checking his watch.

11:10.

11:11.

Cloud took a deep breath, closing his eyes and sniffling.

"I wish that all my wishes had never come true."

He threw in the watch and the coin, watching them both be sucked down into the vacuum. His heart in his throat, he watched the green light at the bottom of the well grow bigger, and bigger…

…and then implode into itself, folding inside of the dark.

Abruptly around him, the gumballs stopped falling. His toothbrush, which had hovered in his mouth, went tumbling to the ground. Fredrick, squirming against his chest, went still.

Cloud stood there, shivering, cold, and normal again.

Someone put a hand on his shoulder, but Cloud, wide-eyed, pulled away, running. He could hear Zack shouting after him, but he sped up, running as fast as he could.

He reached his own house, locked all the locks and turned on all the lights. He ran all the way up the stairs, reached his room, and huddled underneath his bed.

Then, hugging Fredrick—who was very, very still—Cloud _cried _like he hadn't before.

…

…

…

._._._.

The next morning, normalcy finally set in. Cloud, red and puffy-eyed, walked numbly down the stairs, holding Fredrick still firmly under the arm, and sat down heavily on the couch.

It was all over. Cloud was dressed in a pair of jeans and a loose t-shirt; the pajamas had come off without a hitch. He had had to make his own bed. Fredrick had not moved once, which made Cloud unbelievably unhappy. He hadn't even twitched when Cloud meekly voiced that he was having eggs for breakfast.

Cloud thought that after his wishes were taken back, everything would become all right and fine. But instead, he'd become used to the routine. He'd liked Fredrick running around. He'd gotten used to discovering a new wish, breaking down and hiding it from Zack.

Plus, he'd probably lost his friendship with Zack.

He knew, that if he remembered, then Zack did too. Zack was probably disgusted with himself right now, for kissing his best friend. It'd all been under the influence of a wish. Him and Cloud would be even further apart.

Cloud felt a lot like crying again, but he suppressed that. He couldn't do that anymore.

His cell-phone buzzed, and, idly, Cloud flipped it open.

A new text message from Tifa was in the phone. A simple, 'I'm so sorry, Cloud. I have no idea what came over me.' Cloud deleted it with a sigh. He was going to face it eventually.

Then, a new message from his father.

"Cloud!" his father sounded familiar, slightly awkward. "I meant what I said. I'm sorry that I was bugging you, I have no idea what came over me. But a promise is a promise; tell me when you want to have a father-son day! We'll hit Migney World and everything." Then, softly, awkwardly, "I love you, Cloud. And don't _ever _think that I'm not proud of you."

Cloud, wide-eyed, stared at his phone for a long time. When the doorbell rang, he automatically got to his feet, shuffling over to the door.

On the other side, shifting awkwardly on the porch, was Zack. He hastily stuck his foot inside the door, stepping forward when Cloud made to close the door.

"I'm sorry!" Cloud blurted before Zack could get anything out. "I didn't mean to do anything, and I know that it was all just a wish. It was a stupid wish that I made when I was a kid. I'm so sorry; I didn't mean it." Cloud was rambling now, stepping back when Zack stepped forward. His gaze dropped to his feet. "I know you're probably mad at me now. I'm sorry. It was my entire fault—"

"I'm not mad at you."

Cloud peered up at Zack. Judging by Zack's blank face, he could very well be mad and just hiding it, so Cloud hurriedly ducked his head down again.

"You remember your eleventh birthday?" Zack said softly, leaning against the wall. "I remember it. We were playing baseball in the street. I wanted you to play on my team, but you said you were cold. The entire time you were shivering on your chair, but you smiled every time I looked up."

Cloud opened his mouth, but Zack still kept talking. "You know, Cloud? I was twelve that time. I was hormonal and wired, and all sweaty and messy. And you know what?" He swallowed. "That day, I decided I was in love with you."

Oh. _Heck. _

Cloud's head shot up, eyes wide. Apparently thinking that he was going to interrupt, Zack hurriedly continued, "All this time, I didn't want to mess up anything, so I didn't tell you, but I really, really like you, Cloud. And if anyone should be apologizing, it's me; I didn't mean to kiss you like that. I mean, I know it was the wrong time and everything—"

"You like me back?" Cloud whispered.

Zack stopped talking, looking at him. "Yeah," he said.

"_You _like _me _back?" Cloud was trembling all over now.

"Yeah!" Zack said.

With a shriek, Cloud barreled into his chest, spreading his arms as far around Zack's waist as he could, and squeezed. Then he pulled back, looked up at Zack, and shrieked again, burying his face into Zack's chest again. Zack gave an uncertain chuckle, but then apparently let go of all his inhibitions and grabbed Cloud back, lifting him off the floor.

"You never told me!" Cloud screeched, completely overwhelmed. "You never looked like it, or—or made it _obvious_—"

"You didn't either," Zack pointed out, but all with a smile.

Cloud finally calmed down, resting his head against Zack's chest and trying to catch his breath. Zack leaned down, pecking him on the top of his head.

"I really do love you," Zack said. "And this is going to be weird, but I promise I'll try and make it work out."

"It's not weird," Cloud said, "It's perfect."

For a moment, they stood against each other, basking in the silence, before Cloud sighed again.

"I miss Fredrick," he said sadly, grabbing a handful of Zack's shirt (to still make sure that he was real).

Zack grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "You know," he said, "The wishing well could just be magic year-round, and not just on a double digits day. We could go back sometime, on another double day. Make a wish, and see what happens."

Cloud smiled up at him. "Okay. I miss his mangled eggs." Even so, he looked forward to seeing Fredrick again.

Tentatively, Cloud tugged on Zack's collar, tilting his head down. He almost lost his nerve, but he leaned up, pecking Zack on the lips. In response, Zack picked him up, kissing him back harder—and more embarrassingly—than Cloud had. He laughed at Cloud's bashful look, leading him over to the couch.

They had some things to work out and get used to, sure. But…

Cloud smiled at Zack, picking up Fredrick and scooting over closer to him.

He was sure they could work it out.

Cloud leaned against Zack, closed his eyes, and, for the first time in a while, felt completely and truly relaxed.

The clock ticked.

It was 11:11 AM.


End file.
